Dances & Duels
by Epiphany Paige
Summary: Pokémon AU: A lonely ducklett is transformed into a human girl to save a prince-the only problem is, she doesn't know who he is or how to save him. Her only clues are a small town and an ominous warning. Luckily, our plucky Duck has a knack for making friends. (Transplanted from my AO3, rated T to be safe).
1. New Birthday, New Suit

The pond was heavy with pale mist. A single, tiny ducklett lingered on the surface of the water, her eyes closed in sleep and belly full of berries. Cottony clouds filled the sky, but a sliver of moon and a dusting of stars escaped being smothered and sparkled on the pond. The reflections didn't waver—the surface of the pond was mirror flat tonight. An odd occurrence, but no one was there—or awake enough—to notice it.

A graceful foot touched the water, sending ripples slowly across the pond 'til they lapped at the ducklett. She roused and drowsily opened her eyes. More ripples nudged her, but she didn't take notice. Was someone there? As far as she knew, she was the only resident of the pond, aside from a few stray magikarp. It had been a long time since the last visitor, too. Nobody came to this pond if they could help it. After looking around a little and finding nothing, she had half a mind to go back to sleep. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to face it.

"Hello...?" she quacked quietly, not really expecting a reply.

All thoughts of sleep left her as she watched the stranger dance-the first time she'd seen the phenomenon _._ It was a human—she couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy; she hadn't had much contact with humans in her pond. The mist covering it made it harder; the only things she could make out were its face and hair. Its eyes were open, but she felt they might as well have been closed—there was no intelligence behind them. Its hair was a soft feathery white that tufted about its head and over the blank eyes. She didn't know much in the way of human expressions, but something about the way this human moved seemed so sad and lifeless that she couldn't help but empathize. Something dawned on her. As irrational as it was, she knew would do anything to make this human smile.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard a gong sound through the still night air, and the scene before her disappeared entirely. She whipped her head about in confusion—where had the human gone? Was it ever really there? Was it a dream?

A voice cut through the dark and sent chills up her spine. "Oh ho ho, what is this? A little ducklett thinks she can help the prince?" _Prince? What's a prince?,_ she thought distractedly.

She turned, eyes wide, to the direction of the voice—nothing was there. It sounded again behind her, ruffling her feathers further. "You want to help him, do you?"

Slowly, she turned towards the voice again. A bulging pair of glittering eyes stared back at her. A monster-! Horrified, she watched as a face appeared and joined the eyes—a grinning mouth full of teeth fought the eyes for her attention.

"Hmm," the face said. "Maybe we can make this work…it would be rather interesting, eh?"

Not waiting for any response, the face leaned close. "I can give you a way to save the prince, little ducklett." A hand appeared, looming between the face and hers. In its large white fingers hung a simple, round, ruby red stone on a delicate silver chain.

"This stone will allow you to save the prince, my dear," it said.

"Save… the prince? But, who's the prince?" She looked at the stone to distract her from the horrible face. It laughed.

"The prince is that human you saw just now, of course! He's not in the position to save himself, you see," it explained. "If you take this pendant, it will give you the power to save him."

A single question ran through her mind: How?

"This stone has the power to give you everything you need on a journey to save him. He needs his heart back, the prince, and you will be the one to give it to him."

His heart? That must be why he was so blank-looking. It must be so sad not to have your heart… She straightened, looking the monster right in the eye.

"Oh, so you'll do it, then? Wonderful!" It grinned even wider, if that were possible. She wondered vaguely how it was able to tell what she was thinking.

Another hand joined the one holding the pendant, and the two gently placed the chain around her neck.

A flash of red light blinded her momentarily, and she lost feeling in her wings and legs. Her skin burned and prickled, but not so terribly as to make her cry out. She sunk suddenly, splashing awkwardly as her rear hit the stones at the bottom of the pond. A chill swept over her, and she moved to draw her wings about her—only to find that her wings were gone. Instead, she had long, pink limbs…

"Whaa—!" she clapped a hand to her mouth, eyes wide.

She was a human! She looked over herself in amazement—no more feathers, beak, or webbed feet. Those had been replaced with their human-y versions, although she wasn't sure on their names. She tried to stand. Everything felt too long and big and heavy. "Is this what being a human feels like?" she wondered aloud with her new human mouth, moving her head to get a good look at the rest of her. Her tail was gone, too!

The voice laughed again, and she glanced around. The monster wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Good, it looks like you'll adjust to your new body quickly. Now, before I go I must warn you: If you act like a ducklett in any way—you will turn back to your old form. When you do, water will return you to a human, but you must be wearing the pendant."

She was relieved to hear it was leaving. "But—where do I go?"

"There is a town not far from here. Just follow the path. I'm sure you'll find it, my dear." She could have sworn it was hiding a chuckle. "Au revoir," it said merrily, and the pond fell silent.

She looked around the pond one last time to make sure the voice and face were really gone. Satisfied she was alone, she inspected herself again. It was fascinating—every part moved just how she wanted it to, as if she had been born in this body instead of a ducklett's. It was a little cold, though. Without feathers, the cool night air was free to chill her. There was some tradeoff, though—she now had a head of hair as thick and fluffy as her feathers had been, which twined alongside her back and down past where she assumed her bottom was. If only it covered her whole body.

The path led right from the shore of the pond and off into the dark woods. She gulped; she hadn't gone very far into the woods before. Trees loomed high above her, and only a sliver of moon lit the earth between them. Not very inviting.

"Who knows what kind of things live in there?" she thought aloud. Despite the unsettling situation, she found she quite enjoyed this way of speaking—her tongue moved around a lot, in ways that surprised her. She didn't have to move her tongue much as a ducklett. She'd have to try talking in human speech more.

"Well, I need to get going!" She knew she was talking to no one, but it was still pleasing to practice. She lifted her chin and set off along the path.

* * *

Edel sighed; she really needed to get an assistant. Her house and laboratory combination was a messy one, and it was hard to clean and watch a four year old at the same time. Maybe she could put an ad up in town—certainly an aspiring scientist would be willing to help her out, no matter that she was called "odd" and "eccentric". Science didn't recognize popularity labels.

She rubbed her eyes and then glanced around her basement lab wearily. It was quaint, and that was putting it nicely. Half her equipment was two or three gens outdated, and needed manual updates to run smoothly. The other half was handmade, and only needed the occasional patch. The old and the handmade were placed purposefully around the room—she only had so much space to put all of it, and it was like a life-size puzzle when she got a new piece of equipment.

On the east wall, facing the entrance, was her reason for living—her collection of evolutionary stones and held items. Nearly every known stone or item was on that wall, carefully labeled and resting in a little wooden drawer. Mega stones, fossils, evolutionary stones and items, pokéballs, battle effect items, potions, and anything else a pokémon could carry were on that wall—or were going to be, as soon as she laid her hands on it.

She had been researching these items since adolescence, testing their connections to pokémon and battling. There was always a scientific explanation, and that extended to the "magic" of the items too. It didn't hurt that in the process she became very well acquainted with all of the items as well.

Uzura liked them too. Her daughter often accompanied her on the expeditions to find new items, and kept her company while she experimented. Although she wasn't the best reader or conversationalist (yet), Uzura always managed to make it a happy experience.

Edel's eyes flicked to the spot on the ceiling where she knew Uzura was sleeping upstairs. The house was tiny, yes, with only two cramped bedrooms and one bathroom, but it was enough for the two of them. Uzura was delighted to have her own room, and Edel had her lab.

The clock chimed that it was half past two, and Edel sighed. Time to head to bed herself. She got to her feet, rearranged the pile of papers lying on her workbench, turned off the light, and went upstairs to the kitchen.

After pouring herself a glass of water, Edel turned to head to her room—but stopped when she heard a voice outside. She approached the window quietly and listened.

"—And I'm certain someone will tell me where to find the prince. It's not like people are mean like that caterpie was, right? Boy, he had a dirty mouth! I wonder if he thinks he can get a trainer with a mouth like that—," the voice continued on, and Edel frowned. What was a child doing out in the woods at night—and a young girl, too, by the sound of it?

She listened a little more as the voice grew closer. Finally, curiosity got the better of her, so she grabbed a flashlight and stepped out into the night.

The girl stopped when she saw her, and Edel had to stop herself from dropping the flashlight in surprise. The girl was stark naked!

"Who are you? And where am I?" the girl asked. She didn't look at all ashamed of her nudity. Edel didn't know if it would be rude to laugh—she hadn't quite had the experience of meeting a nude, apparently amnesiac stranger in the dead of night before.

Edel cleared her throat and carefully trained her eyes on the girl's freckled face. "I'm Edel, and I live here," she said. "You're about a half a mile from Kinkan town, although I'm afraid the gates are closed this time of night."

"There are gates?" She looked disappointed.

Edel wondered where this girl came from. She can't have gotten far in her state—someone would have stopped her, surely?

"Yes, there are gates," she said. After a moment's pause she added, "Who are you?"

"Uh…," the girl stammered. "I'm not sure how to answer that."

"Okay…. Then can you at least tell me why you're naked?" Edel had had just enough of the nudity, thank you.

"Naked?" The girl was silent for a moment, then a look of realization dawned. "You mean I'm not supposed to look like this?!" Her eyes grew wide, and Edel wondered even more about this girl's history.

"Er, no. Not really," she said. She sighed. "Please, come inside. I think I can help you out." Edel motioned towards the open door, and the girl followed her inside.

* * *

"A ducklett? Is that true—?!" The girl had explained everything from the last few hours: the mist, the dancing human, the pendant, all of it.

The former ducklett sat across from her new friend, now dressed in one of Edel's nightgowns. The garment was much too big for her petite frame, but it was better than nothing. An empty mug of chocolate sat on the table in front of her, the third she had chugged. Who knew human food was so good?

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I don't really have a name, I guess? I've never been with a trainer, and I lived alone in the pond."

Edel sipped her coffee thoughtfully. "I think we should give you a name. I can't just call you 'the ducklett girl'," she said.

"Really? Wow…" She looked at her hands thoughtfully, wondering what kind of name she would get. "It feels like a big deal..!"

Edel chuckled. "I suppose it is," she said. "Although normally, people get their names when they're born, I guess you could call this a rebirth. So it's only natural, yes?" She picked up a pencil and notepad from the far end of the table and began writing.

"How about… 'Sophia'?" She glanced at the girl, who shook her head.

"I-it sounds nice, but…" she trailed off.

Edel nodded. "You just want the name that's right. It's understandable." She rattled off a few more, checking the girl's face for her response.

They went through about twenty names before the girl shook her head violently and said, "No! All of these names are too sophisticated and elegant for me! I mean, I know you're just trying to help me find a name, and that's really nice and all and I really appreciate it especially since I'm new to all this human stuff, but really I'm just a ducklett! All these human names sound too good for me. I just need a simple name, a simple name for a simple ducklett!" Her cheeks reddened from the outburst, and she clutched the table waiting for Edel's response.

Edel's eyebrows had risen during the girl's outburst, and now they lowered to their normal position. "Well then," she said slowly, rolling a word around in her mouth, testing it. "How about 'Duck'?"

The girl looked at her fingers, still holding onto the table's edge, and released them. "I..," she raised her head, looking Edel square in the face. "I think it's perfect."

Edel smiled, and the girl named Duck grinned back.

"So," Edel began, breaking the small moment of silence. "This …monster…. gave you the pendant, which is how you're a human right now?" She gestured to the stone at Duck's throat.

Duck nodded. "Yeah, although it didn't explain how it worked, just the rules about me staying human."

"And he—it—didn't tell you how you would save this prince?"

"Uh-uh. It just said to go to the town," she said, then stopped. "By the way, you're… you're a woman, right?" Edel raised her eyebrows again, and Duck stammered. "I-I just asked because I don't know how to tell human genders apart because I have only met three humans before you and none of them told me how to tell it apart and it wasn't really necessary while I was a pokémon so I didn't worry about it but now I can't go around calling everyone 'it' or even worse call someone the wrong word—" she groaned and slumped onto the table. "Sorry…."

Edel had to keep herself from laughing. "Don't worry, Duck. I understand," she said, waving a hand placatingly. "Yes, I'm a woman. And if you couldn't tell, you do have the body of a human girl—" (Duck let out a sigh of relief) "—and if you really want to know some of the physical differences between human genders, I can give you tips later. But honestly, for now, don't worry about it. Anyone worth anything won't give you a fuss—but in the future, don't ask them directly. It's just a little rude, you see."

Duck nodded, which was hard with her chin still on the table. "Thanks."

Edel shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She eyed her empty coffee cup. "You know, we should both get some rest. Today has been a big day, and tomorrow will possibly be even bigger."

Edel set up a cot in the open space between kitchen and living room, and soon Duck was settled in and fast asleep. Edel spent a moment watching her, then yawned and walked tiredly to her own room as the clock chimed four. She was going to have a headache tomorrow.

* * *

Duck awoke suddenly as a loud _crash_ sounded in her ear, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep from squawking. In front of her stood the tiniest human she'd ever seen—a toddler? Was that the right word? Unless she was a runt too, this one couldn't be very old. Her hair had the same pale greenish-blue tint that Edel's did, like pond water in the afternoon. Her skin was pale as well, paler than Duck's, and with fewer spots. Duck guessed this was Uzura, the daughter Edel had mentioned the night before.

She half smiled, trying to be polite. "Hello. Are you Uzura?"

A quick staccato drum tap was her reply. "Yes-zura. Who are you-zura?" The girl had lovely wide, deep blue eyes that glittered with curiosity. Duck could sympathize—she likely knew even less than this little girl.

"I'm Duck," she said in reply. Uzura tapped her drum thoughtfully (thankfully, a little less harshly too).

"Do you have pokémon-zura?"

Duck was taken by surprise. Technically she _was_ a pokémon, but she didn't think that counted. She shook her head, and felt bad when Uzura's face fell.

"Why not-zura?"

"Wh-why not? Well, um… I don't have any, uh, pokéballs?" Well, she didn't. Pokémon were known to occasionally carry items in the wild, but she herself had never carried anything more than a few berries, let alone a pokéball.

"Like this-zura?" Uzura dug in her pockets and pulled out a pokéball, gleaming except for a fingerprint-shaped smudge of peanut butter.

A thought crossed Duck's mind—could she be caught in a pokéball in her human form? She doubted it. Pokéballs weren't made to catch humans, after all, but she didn't want to find out.

"Yeah," she said. "Do you have a pokémon, Uzura?" She was curious—did humans usually catch pokémon this young?

Uzura shook her head. "No-zura…. Mommy says she'll help me catch one though-zura!" Her eyes brightened when she spoke of her mother, and Duck couldn't help but smile.

"Well, then, I know you'll catch a great one," she said. Uzura tapped her drum enthusiastically in response, and Duck winced.

Edel's door opened, and Duck's mouth opened in awe. Edel's outfit was lively, offsetting the tired smile on her face. Duck had never seen a dress like hers— purple and red and gold, covered by an austere white and purple coat that looked like another dress itself. Duck wondered absentmindedly how she knew these words, having never worn clothes before. Maybe Edel had mentioned them while she was dressing her?

"Good morning," Edel said. "I see you've met Uzura." She smiled, picking up her daughter. "Are you being nice to our new friend Duck?"

Uzura smiled brightly and held her drumsticks in the air. "Yes-zura! She doesn't have any pokémon, though-zura."

"Hm," she said as she nestled her daughter on her hip, then motioned to Duck. "Would you like some breakfast?"

Duck's stomach gurgled at the thought of food. Edel chuckled, and then set Uzura down so she could start cooking. Duck sprang to her feet. "Please, let me help, Ms. Edel!"

Edel turned, her eyebrow raised again. "Don't be so formal, Duck. Please, just call me Edel. And if you must help, you can aid me with the dishes once we're done with breakfast." With that, she turned back to the kitchen and began cooking.

Duck and Edel chatted through breakfast. Edel mused that Duck knew so many words she hadn't before because of the stone, or possibly because of her human form. Duck wondered if she'd forget that she wasn't human before, and also wondered how human food could taste so good. The two of them watched Uzura eat voraciously and messily, sharing a smile when the empty pokéball on the table got another smear of peanut butter on it.

"So, Duck. Do you have a plan?"

Duck eyed her empty plate, biting her lip. "Not quite. I know I need to find the prince, wherever he is. I have a feeling he's in this town, but that's all I know. I don't even know how to save him once I do find him…"

"Well, I don't know about any princes, but there are a few nobles who live in town," Edel said. "I think the best thing for you to do would be to go into town and ask around. I'm not one for gossip, so I'm afraid I'm not much help." She glanced at Duck, noticing the nightgown and remembering last night's incident. "But," she added, "You're going to need some clothes, whatever you do."

Duck felt herself blush. It wasn't her fault she hadn't known that clothes were important! She nodded.

Edel continued. "I don't really have anything your size here, so I'll go into town after breakfast and buy you some. I would take you with me, but…" She trailed off, and Duck got the distinct impression that wearing nightgowns in public wasn't exactly normal.

The two cleaned up the dishes (and Uzura). Edel stuffed her wallet into the pocket of her coat, and then made sure Uzura was fully dressed. "I would leave Uzura here, but I don't want her to get into trouble, and my poor Beryl would have his hands full."

She pulled a dark pokéball from her pockets and opened it, releasing the pokémon inside in a small stream of light. A sableye appeared; not even two feet tall, with dark sleek fur and glittering eyes.

Duck knelt down in front of it. "Hello there, Beryl," she said, holding out her hand to him. He grinned, and shook her hand with his own tiny one.

"Pleased to meet you, human," he replied. "I would ask your name, but you can't really understand me, can you?"

"Oh, you can call me Duck," she said cheerily. "And yes, I can understand you just fine."

His jaw snapped shut for a moment, and then the grin came back full force. "You're an odd one, aren't you?"

Duck smiled back. Normally she'd be offended, but something about the glint in this sableye's diamond eyes eased her.

Edel and Uzura watched the exchange in silence. Uzura turned to her mother. "Is she talking to Beryl-zura?"

Edel nodded slowly, her eyes on the two in front of her as she thought. "Yes, dear," she replied. "It seems like our friend here can talk to pokémon."

Duck turned to her, still crouching. "Oh, I didn't tell you? I guess I forgot to mention it before… it seemed like a smaller detail compared to everything else."

Edel shook her head. "It's probably for the best. Now you will have even more individuals who might know how to find your prince." She turned to her sableye. "Beryl, please watch the house and Duck while I'm gone. You know what to do." Beryl nodded.

And with that, they left.

* * *

A few hours later, Edel and Uzura returned to find Duck and Beryl playing a game on the table with assorted screws and nails, and it was nearly impossible to discern who was winning.

"Having a good time, are we?" Edel asked, setting her shopping bag on the corner of the table so as not to disrupt the nails.

Duck carefully picked up a tiny screw and placed it somewhere else. "Yeah! Beryl is great company." Edel saw the blush on his face, but decided not to mention it.

"I'm glad. Now, let's try on your new clothes, shall we?" She gestured to the fat bag on the table, from which a few bits of cloth peeped out.

Duck stood, bowing her head to Beryl in playful deference. "Thank you for the game. I'm gonna have to forfeit, though—I know I'm not going to win against you," she said, and grinned ruefully. Beryl nodded sagely, and Duck followed Edel into her room.

Edel's room was small but overflowing with character. Her bed lined the far wall, a white wood affair made up neatly with a thick red quilt and white pillows. Portraits of Uzura and Beryl hung on the walls, and a white wardrobe stood next to the window, its doors slightly ajar. A white chest of drawers squatted in the corner, and scattered atop it was a seemingly random array of stones and jewelry spilling out of a pale purple jewelry box. A small desk and chair, white like the rest of the furniture, sat below the window, covered in books and papers and a small gadget that Duck couldn't name.

Edel pulled the chair away from the desk and motioned for Duck to sit. She did, and had to pull her eyes from the quiet comfort of the room around her to focus on what Edel was saying.

"—Managed to find something I think is your size, dear. I had to guess, but if it's too big I'll be able to tailor it a little for you." She had pulled out a few pieces of clothing and handed them to Duck. "Try it on, I'll be outside." She left and closed the door behind her.

Duck looked at the clothing in her hands for a second, and then set about putting it on. She wasn't completely sure how to do it, and had to whisper questions to Edel through the door about how to put on some of them, but eventually she got it right.

She tried on her undergarments first, which, thankfully, fit well enough. Then she pulled on her new nightgown, which was much shorter than Edel's, although similar in design. It was simple, with only a little ribbon in the front for decoration. It also came with a pair of pants for the cold winter nights, which were several inches long for her. Edel said she could roll them up for her—she wouldn't want to hit a growth spurt and need new ones.

Finally, she got to her day clothes. Once dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror attached to the wardrobe door. First was a pale blue turtleneck sweater with fancy lace that covered her wrists and fit perfectly. Edel had thoughtfully found a pair of ducklett themed short overalls, with a heart-shaped flap covering her front and pockets shaped like wings. Underneath those she wore a pair of simple white-and-yellow-striped stockings (although they were just a tiny bit too big). She even had matching blue and yellow shoes. Her pendant glittered at her neck, too big to be stuffed under the collar of the turtleneck. Edel also supplied a ribbon for the end of her braid.

Edel had bought her everything—which made her burn with an uncomfortable mix of guilt and gratitude. She opened the door for the waiting Edel and Uzura, and turned in a circle for them. When she stopped, though, she found she was crying.

"What's wrong, Duck?" Edel asked worriedly, rushing over to put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Duck shook her head and sniffed, trying to suck the tears back in.

"Nothing's wrong," she replied, her eyes still watery. "I just… You're the first person to be so nice to me and I don't want to let you down or mess up and I also don't want to leave because its so nice here—but I have to save the prince like I said I would, so I can't, even though I want to—," she stopped when her voice broke. "Just… thank you, Edel."

Edel _tsk_ ed. "Of course, Duck. And you're always welcome here."

Uzura's voice chimed from below. "Duck is a friend-zura! Please come back-zura!" Duck looked down to see Uzura hugging her knees and smiled.

She sniffed one last time. "Thanks you guys," she said as Beryl appeared in the doorway. "You too, Beryl," she added, as he padded over and hugged her as well.

The four of them spent the next day making sure Duck's things were all in order. Edel quickly and neatly embroidered "DUCK" on the inside of all of her new clothes (Beryl helped), and gave her a little sackcloth satchel to put them all in (and then embroidered her name on that as well). She also made sure that Duck was not without several pokéballs, and a smattering of items that would work for any pokémon. Beryl joked that it was a shame she couldn't use them herself, and Duck had to explain to Edel what he'd said that was so funny.

"It's a shame everyone can't talk to pokémon," Edel mused as she put some fruit and berries in Duck's bag.

Duck shrugged as she swept the floor—she'd insisted on helping out around the house. "Some of them can be pretty foul-mouthed," she said.

"So not any different from humans, then." Edel closed the satchel and cinched it tightly.

"No, I guess not." Duck finished sweeping all the dirt outside and put the broom back in its place by the stove. She suppressed the thoughts that rose from that statement-what kind of people would she encounter? Would they all be as friendly as Edel and Uzura?

It was well past three in the afternoon now, and there was nothing else to prepare or clean. Duck sighed—no sense putting it off any longer. She put her shoes on, and then took the sack from Edel and hefted it onto her back. Standing in front of the door, she fought the sadness that welled fresh tears in her eyes. Edel's hand rested on her shoulder gently.

"You can do it, Duck," she said quietly. "You are a strong girl."

Uzura patted her hand. "Good luck-zura!"

Duck smiled, sniffed loudly so as not to cry, and then walked quickly outside.


	2. Enter Psyduck

The image of Edel, Uzura, and Beryl waving to her as she walked away stayed in her mind long after she lost sight of the house. It was comforting to know she now had a safe place with people she could count on, instead of only having her pond to go back to. That comfort emboldened her, and soon her steps were lighter. She continued to hold a conversation with herself, half to practice what she'd say and half to drive away the silence of the forest.

She was on a mission, a quest. She was a hero, off to save a prince! If Edel thought she could do it, then of course she could. She began to hum a little tune as she walked, to fill the silence that permeated the air around her.

How far had Edel said to the town gates? A half a mile? Duck didn't worry about it much; she knew as long as she stayed on the path she would eventually end up in town. She would have plenty of time to find out where the prince was.

Probably.

After about a half hour of walking (her legs were longer than a ducklett's, but still quite short) she arrived at the gates—a large, dark pair of wooden doors that were almost as tall as the walls they were nestled in. Duck had to crane her neck to see the top of it through the trees. Embossed on the door was a depiction of a large, simple crown, and the word KINKAN underneath. (At seeing this, Duck wondered vaguely how she could read—more magic?) Both doors sported thick iron rings bigger than her head. Another, much smaller, single door was stuck in the wall a few feet from the gates, which opened upon her arrival. A man stuck his head out from inside and looked at her amicably from his broad face.

"Well, hello there, kid," he said. "And who might you be?"

Duck raised a hand in hopeful greeting. "Uh, I'm just a…a traveller. I'm looking for someone in town." Her hand gestured to the gates.

"Oh? You're not a new student at the Academy?" He looked surprised.

Duck shook her head, not wanting to let slip that she had no idea what that was. "Nope," she said.

The man had stepped out completely, now, and Duck could see a pokéball on his belt. "Oh, you have a pokémon?" She couldn't help but fidget excitedly—who'd have guessed a few days ago that she'd be meeting so many new people and pokémon? "Could I meet them?"

The man's eyebrows raised a little, but he consented and unclipped the pokéball from his belt, releasing it.

Duck sucked in a gasp as the tough-skinned rhyhorn towered above her, looking remarkably like its trainer. Or maybe it was the other way around? She waved, not noticing the look of confusion on its face. "Hello there! I'm Duck," she said. Neither rhyhorn nor trainer knew quite what to do.

"Well, can I go into town, then? It was great to meet the both of you," she said, and the man nodded, after a moment.

He motioned to his rhyhorn, and the two of them took ahold of the great iron rings and pulled. After some grunting, the gates were open enough for Duck to walk through comfortably. She turned around once she was into the town and waved again. "Thank you!"

The guard waved back. "No problem. Good luck with whoever you're looking for, kid," he called as she walked away. The rhyhorn gave a shy little wave.

Duck sucked in a long breath of air as she walked, trying to get a smell of the town. Her sense of smell hadn't been anything to brag about as a ducklett, but it had grown considerably after her transformation—the only problem was, she couldn't really place most of them. She decided to collectively name this particular group of smells "town smell", for her own future reference. The air was cool but not chilly, and she enjoyed the way the wind made her bangs tickle her face.

The houses and buildings here were all fairly close together, with narrow dumpster-lined alleyways disappearing in between them. Laundry-laden clotheslines hung between windows overhead, as many of the buildings had two or even three floors. The roofs were shingled in a mix of warm brown and gray blue tile that reflected the morning sun nicely.

After a minute or so of walking she was no longer alone in the cobbled streets. A dozen people passed her, each walking about their own ways, old and young, girls and boys and anyone else, alone or in pairs, each certain of their destination. She caught bits of their chatter as they passed her. A few pokémon were out as well, walking with their trainers or alone. No one paid much attention to her, so she readjusted her grip on the satchel straps and kept walking, suddenly shy.

A weight bobbed in her stomach—what if nobody knew who the prince was? Or worse, what if they _did_ know, but no one wanted to talk to her? She couldn't bear the thought of turning back before even meeting him.

Just as her anxiety was reaching a record high, it started to drizzle. And, before she could even register it, the drizzle evolved into a downpour. Shouting in distress, people and pokémon scattered, some headed into shops and under awnings, and others braving the rain and running off into the distance. Duck found herself being herded along with some of the crowd into a small restaurant, standing with the other soaked passersby.

A woman came out a few moments later, her arms laden with towels that she handed out to the impromptu guests. Duck thanked her quietly, then started to pat herself dry. Even though she had only been in the rain for a minute or so, her hair was thoroughly wet. She walked over to a potted plant and wrung out her braid over it, so as not to get water on the tile floor (at least, not any _more_ water). The woman, who had disappeared into the rear of the restaurant after giving out the towels, returned with a large stack of cups and an even larger teapot.

Murmured thanks filled the air as the same woman passed out cups and filled each generously with a honey colored tea. Duck had since discovered her rear to be decently dry, and had sat down at a little table in an alcove by the door. She took a sip of her tea, humming in delight at the pleasant taste.

Someone spoke to the woman, cutting over the sound of the rain and clinking of silverware. "Mrs. Ebine, you are as generous as ever. How can I—we—repay you?"

The woman, Ebine, shook her head and smiled warmly. "Oh, no need. Just stop by later of your own volition, instead of because of ill weather." The crowd collectively returned the smile, and returned to their tea and towels. Duck heard a few of them order full meals.

Nobody else noticed the bells on the door chime quietly, and Duck watched as a plump psyduck waddled inside, stopping close to her table. He too (Duck was fairly certain it was a male—pokémon genders were a lot easier to guess than human ones) was dripping wet, and he shook his head energetically, speckling chair and table legs with water to match the floor. He wore a green cloth tied around his neck, which he tugged off and wrung out onto the floor. Duck frowned.

"Hey!" she hissed, leaning down. "That's not very nice of you!"

The psyduck turned its head to look at her with one of his odd googly eyes. He stared at her silently for a moment, and then promptly returned to wringing out his neckerchief.

Duck's eyebrows furrowed, and she thought for a second. She knew psyducks were supposed to be odd, but she hadn't expected rude. She was about to say something rude back, but she paused as she noticed the psyduck having a particularly hard time drying his back and tail. She sighed.

"Hey," she said again, nicer this time.

The psyduck turned to her again, face inscrutable.

She held out her towel, which was only slightly damp from her use. "You want this?"

He stared at her for a long moment, then took the towel. Before she could pull her hand back to herself he handed her the wet neckerchief, which made a slapping noise in her palm. She raised it over the nearby potted plant and squeezed it out like she had her hair.

When she turned back to the table, she saw the psyduck had clambered up onto the chair opposite her (which was an impressive feat, given his height), wrapped himself in the towel, and had begun staring at her teacup.

Duck hesitated, then turned and put up her hand. "Uh, Mrs. Ebine?"

Ebine arrived quickly, teapot in hand. "Yes, dear? How can I help you two?"

"Um. Can we get another tea, please?" Duck thought gratefully of the small sum of money Edel had given her.

"Certainly," Ebine said brightly. "What kind?"

Duck paused, realizing she had no idea what was on the menu. "Uh… whatever kind pokémon can drink?"

"Of course," said Ebine, who turned to face the kitchen and called out, "Coriander!" A green tufted head appeared from behind the counter. "Would you bring us a pot of lum berry tea, please?" The head disappeared.

A moment later, a wide-eyed pansage stood next to Ebine, a teapot in its arms and a teacup balanced on its head. Within moments the cup was filled and in front of the psyduck, who nodded in what Duck assumed was thanks.

"Thank you," she said, pulling out the little coin purse Edel had given her. "How much is that?"

Ebine shook her head. "First time customers get a free pot. Don't worry about it dear." She placed the teapot on the table. "What's your name?"

"I'm Duck," she replied. "And this is… uh…" she trailed off awkwardly.

The psyduck drank his tea and paid her no mind.

"This is Coriander," Ebine said, breaking the awkward silence. "And you already know my name. It's nice to meet you, Duck." She turned to the psyduck. "You too, fella, although you've been in here a few times before. You're lucky to have found such a nice friend, you know." She winked at Duck. "Enjoy your meal, you two." Coriander said the same, but Duck didn't have an opportunity to thank him as well before they were already gone.

Duck turned back to her new companion. "So, what's your name?" she asked, more because she wanted to break the silence than curiosity.

He just looked at her, and Duck realized it didn't matter that she could talk to pokémon if none of them would talk back. She sighed and put her chin in her hands.

"I don't know if you'd believe me, but I really can understand pokémon."

Silence.

"Fine, you don't have to talk if you don't want to."

He didn't.

"I guess I'll talk about myself, then. I'm new in town, as you probably guessed, and I'm looking for a specific person." A thought occurred to her. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a prince, would you?"

No response.

She sighed again, and began fiddling with her teacup. 'I really need to find him, but nobody I've asked so far even knows who he is. How am I supposed to save someone I can't even find?"

She covered her face with her hands as if to push the rising anxiety back down.

"Save?"

She raised her head quickly, unsure if she had imagined the low, scratchy voice. The psyduck stared at her, his expression physically unchanged, and yet…

"Y-yeah…," she replied slowly. "I was told I'm the only one who can save him. And I want to do it, too! The only trouble is, I don't even know how to start." Her shoulders slumped as she said aloud what she'd been feeling all day.

The psyduck nodded, and the two of them fell back into silence.

Duck was refilling her teacup with the lum berry tea when it spoke again.

"Fritz."

She looked up—he was staring into his cup now. "Fritz? Is—is that your name?"

He nodded.

"Oh. Well. Thank you for telling me," she said awkwardly. She took a sip, then paused as a thought crossed her mind. "You really _don't_ know a prince, do you?" she asked again, now that she had him talking (sort of).

He shook his head.

She sighed. "Of course not. Thanks anyways, Fritz."

By now the rain had been reduced to a fine drizzle, and they had finished off the tea. Duck stood and quickly glanced over herself to make sure everything was in place and dry enough (she had put the coin purse back in its pocket of the satchel already).

"You know," she said, pushing in her chair, "You're welcome to walk with me. I could use some company."

Fritz nodded and slid out of his chair.

* * *

The two of them walked together through the town, and after Duck had explained her story to him, she found herself asking about his past. Fritz himself told it in as few words as possible, leaving Duck to infer the rest. He was hatched here, and had lived in the town his whole life. An elderly breeder raised him in her retirement, since she had no family. She had died recently, leaving Fritz on the street and without anyone to take care of him. He had been practically begging for food when Duck met him.

Duck was silent for a moment, watching her shoes tap at the cobblestones with each step. "Is that her neckerchief?" she asked finally, her head still down.

She saw his nod from the corner of her eye. "I'm sure she'd be happy to see you wear it," she said.

They were both silent again.

"You know," she started, looking up at the cloudy sky, "I don't really have anyone either. I mean, I have Edel and Uzura and Beryl, and I'm grateful for them, but I was on my own in the pond for as long as I can remember. I didn't know my parents—or even how I hatched. I didn't have a name a week ago."

She found she had stopped walking completely, and Fritz turned to look back at her. "Would you… would you come with me? I can't guarantee anything, but having a friend with you is better than being on your own, I think." She offered a weak smile.

Fritz stared at her inscrutably for a long moment, and Duck got the feeling this would not be the last time that happened. He finally nodded, and Duck reached down to take his tiny hand in hers.

Soon the two realized Fritz's knowledge of the town only went so far, and Duck's knack for misinterpreting directions did not make it any easier. Worse than that, Duck thought, they didn't even have a concrete destination and they were still lost.

They decided to quite while behind and ask for directions, looking around for a convenient passerby.

Lucky for them, two appeared—a pair of girls in matching dresses turned the corner onto the street ahead of them and came into view, headed their way. Duck's face brightened, then froze—these were the first girls her age she'd seen, ever! What if she screwed up something as simple as asking directions? What if they thought she was stupid, or worse, didn't like her? What if they were mean—?!

Fritz tugged on the hem of her romper, pulling her back to earth before she tried to run in panic. They exchanged glances, and Duck exhaled slowly. Whether these girls liked her or not, she needed to find the prince.

By now the girls were near enough to get their attention, so she steeled herself before hastily stepping into their path.

"H-hello!" she said, as confidently as she could.

The girls stopped, and Duck took this as a sign to continue. "Sorry to bother you guys, but we're lost. Would you happen to have a map, or anything? We're trying to find a prince." It occurred to her that she didn't really have anywhere to be, but it would at least help to know where they were or had been already.

Duck was surprised when recognition flitted across their faces at the word "prince." The blonde one turned to her companion and whispered loudly, "Oh, could it _be_?!"

Her friend nodded in excitement, her pink bun bobbing on her head. She cupped a hand (Duck wasn't sure why—she could hear them both just fine) and replied, "She's definitely going after him! Even more competition!"

Confused, Duck watched the two of them grow more animated.

"Of _course_ he's attracting girls outside of the school—I can't believe this didn't happen earlier!"

"Oh, I wonder how Rue will take it? Surely she won't be intimidated by her!" The two girls clasped hands as they gasped and tittered, hardly even looking at Duck now.

Duck wasn't sure what they were talking about now, but she knew what she'd heard before.

"Wait," she interrupted, incredulous. "You guys know who I'm talking about?"

The blonde one sighed, exasperated. "Of course we do, silly! He's only the most charming boy in the Academy!"

"Yeah!" her companion said. "Everyone loves him—girls, guys, even pokémon have crushes on him." She nudged her friend knowingly in the ribs with an elbow. "Personally, I'm all for the bad boy type."

Duck felt herself becoming lost in more than one sense, so she tried to get the conversation back on track. "Can you take me to him? Where is he?"

"Sure," The girl with the bun said. "There's nothing in school rules about not having visitors."

Duck sighed, relieved. "Oh, thank goodness," she said. "I wasn't sure I was going to find him at all... My name's Duck, and this is Fritz," she added, bowing slightly and gesturing to her new friend. Fritz nodded silently.

The two girls curtsied in return and introduced themselves. The one with the curly blonde pigtails and green bows in her hair was Lilie, and the one with pink hair in a bun was Pique. The two looked similar in their matching gray-white-and-blue dresses (which Duck assumed was a uniform of some sort), although the blonde was a little thicker than her friend, who was darker and more muscular. Both were taller than her, although they couldn't be much older.

Pique took Duck's hand confidently. "C'mon," she said, smiling. "The Academy is this way. Who knows—maybe you'll enroll, too!"

"E-enroll?" Duck asked, blushing at the ease with which Pique performed the intimate gesture.

Lillie picked up Fritz (much to his dismay) and took Duck's other hand. "Yeah," she replied. "You should definitely enroll! I'm sure your parents would give you permission—and when they don't I can console you!"

Duck inspected her shoes quietly for a moment. "That won't be a problem," she said, looking up at them. "I'm an orphan."

Pique grew somber, although Lilie got an odd look in her eyes.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Pique said, and squeezed her hand apologetically. "I'm sure you miss them, huh?"

"A-actually," Duck started, "I didn't know them at all, so—!" Before she could finish, Lilie had looped an arm tightly around her shoulders (thankfully she hadn't dropped Fritz).

"Oh, poor Duck!" she cried, "Such a tragedy! A starving orphan living in ruin, whose only dream is to confess to a prince that she has absolutely no chance with! Oh, I can see the movie adaptation now—such a tearjerker!"

"H-huh?" Duck struggled to be released from the one-armed hug to no avail. "C-confess..?"

Pique cocked a fist and knocked Lilie squarely on the head, and she relinquished Duck's neck. Pique gave her an inquisitive look while she coughed.

"You mean you don't want to confess to him?"

Duck thought for a moment, rubbing her neck. Could she tell them about saving him? Something deep down told her that these two wouldn't really understand, and something even deeper said it was better for her to keep everything a secret, if possible. She wasn't sure why it hadn't spoken while she was blabbing her history to Fritz (probably because he wasn't likely to tell anyone else). Maybe she could tell them later, once she knew she could trust them.

"O-oh, yeah, of course I do," she lied, praying that her nervousness would be read differently. "I just was surprised, I thought that I hid it better than that, haha…" she ended weakly, searching their faces for any hint that they suspected she was lying.

Lilie sighed. "Poor Duck, you can't even keep your feelings a secret, can you?"

Pique grinned ruefully. "Yeah, we kinda guessed."

"W-well, I'm kinda glad someone knows about it." Duck let out a relieved breath. Fritz gave her an odd look (or rather, an odd _er_ one), and Duck decided to explain it to him later.

Pique tugged on her hand as they began to walk again. "Well, don't worry. We'll cheer you on."

"And I'll be here to console you when you're rejected," Lilie said brightly.

"Uh…okay?"

* * *

The Academy was a large building—taller than the town walls—separated from the rest of the town by the river on one side and a fence on the other. The stone walls burned a pale silver-gray in the fog that settled over the school grounds, the roofs a pretty lavender blue. The lawns were neat and well managed, lined with bushes nearly as tall as she was. A sturdy stone bridge reached across the joyful blue water. The main entrance (which held what Pique said was the enrollment office) was a smaller building made impressive by the tall clock tower perched atop it.

The four approached the main entrance, stopping outside briefly. Lilie released her hold on Fritz, and he promptly moved to Duck's far side to stay out of her clutches. Both Pique and Lilie placed a supportive hand on her shoulders, walking with her inside the large double doors.

The inside of the main entrance was all blue-gray marble floors and white walls, with paintings and tapestries galore. Their shoes clacked against the tile as they followed the myriad signs to a door with a bronze plaque that read ENROLLMENT OFFICE.

"Well, this is it," Pique whispered, hand still on Duck's shoulder. "Good luck!"

"Yeah," Lilie whispered, a little more harshly. Her hand was still resting on Duck too. "Give it your best, even though it'll probably fail!"

"W-wha—?"

Before she could finish the word, the two girls whipped open the door and shoved her inside. "Good luck in there!" "You can do it, Duck!" they cheered simultaneously.

"Whoaa!" she said as she tried to keep her balance. The door snapped shut behind her, cracking her on the behind and knocking her down. When she stood again, she saw that Fritz had scurried in behind her, barely escaping the door himself.

"Well," she said, dusting off her knees. "That was… interesting…"

Duck took a look around. The room was small and empty, aside from them, with a single wood desk and a pair of cushy chairs in the center of it. Purple wallpaper was peppered with a few calm paintings, and an enormous stack of papers and what Duck assumed was a computer sat atop the desk—the first advanced technology she'd seen since Edel's house, aside from her new pokéballs. Another door on the wall to her left read STAFF ONLY, and a telephone hung on the wall beside it.

Unsure what to do, Duck sat in one of the chairs. Fritz scrambled into the other, then reached one stubby arm and pointed. Duck looked—there was a little red button on the edge of the desk, with a little sign that said PUSH FOR SERVICE.

Obediently, Duck pushed it. A pause, and then she could hear through the walls a chime sounding in another room, then a bump and a crash, and finally the side door opened to reveal a rather frazzled looking young woman. She hurried into the chair behind the desk, spouting rushed apologies as she rearranged seemingly every paper before her. Once everything was to her liking, she laid her hands atop the piles and looked up at Duck expectantly.

"How can I help you?" she asked. Duck caught a glimpse of her nametag, which read BERTA.

"I-I want to enroll," Duck replied meekly.

Berta smiled, though not all of it reached her eyes. "Then you've come to the right place, dear." She began sifting through her papers again.

After a moment, Berta found what she was looking for. She grabbed a pen and clicked it decisively. "All right, let's get started on the paperwork. Name?"

"Um. Duck," she answered nervously, fidgeting with her fingers.

If Berta thought it odd, she said nothing as she scribbled something on the paper. "And what's your last name?"

"I—I don't have one?"

"You don't? Uh, all right... What's your current address, then?"

"I…I don't have one of those, either…" Duck felt her stomach drop. What was she thinking, trying to enroll? There was no way this was going to work.

Berta put down her pen, looking closely at Duck for the first time. "Oh," she said delicately, after a heavy pause.

"Oh, I see. Oh dear," she muttered, and began rifling through her piles again. "Let me get the right form then, and we can start this from the beginning, eh?" She forced a smile again, although this time Duck could tell she meant no malice.

A new paper was pulled out, and Berta began her questions again as Duck tried her best to answer honestly.

"Name?"

"Duck."

"Age?"

"Uh…fourteen?" Duck guessed. She didn't know her human age—Pique and Lilie had told her they were fourteen, and she couldn't be much younger than them, physically. As a ducklett, she had been about two years old, and she'd only been a human for about four days. Berta raised an eyebrow at her tone, but didn't say anything.

"Last place of residence?"

"Uh," Duck stalled, trying to think of a way to say "the pond outside town" without sounding homeless. "Um, I last stayed with Edel at her house, outside of town—"

"You know Professor _Edel_?" Berta interrupted incredulously. "And you stayed at her _house_?" Her shoulders slouched in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah," Duck said. "She's really nice—she gave me this outfit and bag and told me where to go and everything."

"Gee whiz," Berta muttered, all professional pretense gone. "You have some connections, kid. Edel is one of the most reclusive scientists in the region."

Duck blinked. Was it odd that she had made friends with Edel? She had no idea. Given how kind and sympathetic Edel was, she was surprised everyone wasn't her close friend.

After a second Berta cleared her throat. "Okay, back to work," she said. "Any previous schooling?"

Duck made a face. She was lucky she knew as much as she did, which wasn't much at all.

"I'll take that as a 'minimal'," Berta said. "I assume this is your pokémon?" She politely gestured to Fritz with her pen.

Duck and Fritz exchanged glances, Duck asking silently for permission and Fritz giving it. She turned to Berta and nodded. "Yeah."

"Ok…," Berta said distractedly, writing more. "Name?"

"Fritz."

"Gender?"

"Uh, male." Duck shot another glance at Fritz, who nodded. Phew—she was getting better at guessing gender (although pokémon genders were a lot easier than human ones, she had learned).

'One last question, and then we'll be done," Berta said. "All students are required to take an elective course with their pokémon. The choices are," Berta began ticking them off on her fingers, "Visual arts, theater, music, sports, or dance. Choose one—but don't worry, you have a two week period to switch out if you don't like your first choice."

Duck's heart leapt at the word "dance." Dancing—that's what the prince was doing that night, in her dream or vision or whatever it was. That had to be it—it had to be a clue to finding him. If not, she had two weeks to figure out what other division he was in.

"Dance," she said decisively. "I want to dance." Fritz turned to look at her in surprise, and Duck mentally promised to explain the decision to him later.

"All right," Berta said, scratching out a check mark. "All that's left is for you to sign the form." She rotated the paper to face Duck, and offered the pen.

Duck hesitated; she hadn't ever written anything before. She knew what her name looked like, thanks to Edel, but that was about it. She took the pen hesitatingly, feeling the warm weight of it. Haltingly, she wrote her name on the line Berta had indicated, then handed it back.

Berta gave her signature a once over, tried and failed to hide her surprise at the jagged letters, and then politely placed the paper onto what Duck assumed was the right pile.

"Lucky for you," Berta said, "The Academy has an open-enrollment clause for orphans and homeless children, which means that you can start school tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great!" Duck replied, and meant it. She finally had a lead.

"Good," Berta said. "Would you like me to give you a tour? Or I can summon a student your age to give you one, if that would make you more comfortable."

"Oh," Duck said. "That would probably be helpful, huh?"

Berta gave her a small consoling smile. "I think so. The school grounds are rather large, after all."

"Hmm," Duck murmured. "Then, is it ok if another student did it? No offense, I just want to meet as many kids here as I can."

"Of course," Berta said. "If you can make friends with Professor Edel, you can make friends with anyone here, I think. Let me call someone down."

She picked up a telephone Duck had missed previously (it had been buried under the papers) and dialed it quickly and surely. Duck waited patiently as she talked to whoever picked up on the other end.

"Yeah, it's Berta," she said, turning to the side politely. "I need someone down here to show a new student around."

A pause. "Yeah, it's her first day… Whoever you can spare."

Another pause, then Berta sat up straighter. "Yes, I think that'd be perfect. Thanks." She put the phone back on the receiver and turned back to Duck.

"Oh, before your guide gets here, I need to give you some things," Berta said, standing up. "Your uniform, the school rulebook, student handbook, a class schedule—you stay here, I'll go get them." She walked back through the door she had entered from before Duck could say anything. She and Fritz exchanged looks.

"Thanks," she said, sighing into the sudden quiet. "For letting me say you're my pokémon."

Fritz nodded.

After a couple of minutes, Berta reentered the room, arms full of boxes. "I didn't remember to ask your size," she started as she practically dumped her load onto the desk (which was running out of space). "So I just brought the whole junior sizes box."

Duck realized she'd stood up when Berta returned, and was about to sit when Berta motioned for her to stay standing. She gave Duck a quick once-over. "I think it's safe to say you're an extra small," she said, opening the largest box and rummaging inside. She pulled out a dress that looked exactly like Pique and Lilie's: gray and white, with a wide flowing skirt and a puffed sleeve jacket, all with elegant blue trim. After the dress came a pair of shiny black shoes and lacy ankle socks.

Berta held the items in front of Duck, checking that her guess was right. "I think this'll do. It might be a little long, though…" She glanced at Duck's short legs, and Duck blushed. Even as a human she was a runt.

The clothes were folded neatly and placed in a plastic bag alongside the shoes and two small pamphlets. Berta handed Duck the bag. "Make sure to read the handbooks as soon as you get to your dorm, ok? The ballet department will give you your leotard and everything else you need."

She bent over her computer, typing a few things in. The machine beeped, and a little slip of paper slid out of a slot on the side. Berta tugged it out. "This is your class schedule, okay? It also has your dorm number and student number. Keep this with you at all times until we get you a student ID," she said, her tone serious. "Show it to your guide when he gets here, and he'll show you around."

Duck nodded obediently, taking the offered paper. She only had a few moments to let it sink in before there was a knock at the door.

"That's your guide, I believe," Berta said. "Good luck, kid. I think you'll have a great time here."

Duck smiled shyly, and bowed a little. "Thank you for your help!"

"Oh, no problem, I was just doing my job," Berta replied, a little blush peppering her cheeks.

"Still, thanks anyway," Duck said, and turned to open the door.

She took a deep breath, one hand on the doorknob, and Fritz reached up and took her other hand in his. She had a plan, she knew what to do, and she had friends. An unexpected wave of confidence surged up within her, and she pulled the door open. She let the confidence carry her out as she closed the door behind her, a happy grin starting to form on her face—just as she walked right into someone's chest.

"Oh—!" Duck gasped, looking up. Her mouth opened to apologize, but the words died on her tongue as she took in the person before her—blue and white school uniform, the feathery white hair, pale skin, and familiar golden eyes.

"Oh, hello," said the prince. "Are you the new student?"


	3. A Collection of Firsts

"Hello," the prince repeated.

Duck snapped to attention, straightening nervously. "H-h-hello!" she stammered, her bundle held close to her chest. She could feel her face heating up in embarrassment even as she rejoiced internally.

She'd found him! She'd picked the right path after all, and here he was! Maybe he knew how she could save him?

Before she could ask, though, he gave her a quick bow. "My name's Mytho. What's yours?" His golden eyes were soft and gentle, but they had the same unearthly sadness she'd seen in them during their first meeting. Her heart hurt a bit at their emptiness, but it strengthened her resolve.

"D-Duck," she replied, taking his offered hand in her own. "And this is Fritz. N-nice to meet you." She put all the sincerity she could into her words.

Mytho smiled. "You too, Duck." He released her hand, and she secretly wished he'd kept it. "Let me show you around."

"Oh!" Duck tugged the slip free from her bundle and passed it to him. "Berta said to show you this." Their fingers brushed as he took it, sending warmth shooting up to her face.

He read it, looking up at her when he got to the bottom. "You're in the dance department as well?"

She nodded, grinning internally. So she'd guessed right!

"That's nice. Maybe we'll see each other in class then."

Duck sincerely hoped that was true.

Mytho gestured down the hallway. "Let's get going, shall we? I'll show you to your classrooms first."

As Mytho guided her around the school, Duck fought the rising urge to tell him everything, ask him everything. The same voice that had told her not to tell Pique and Lilie now told her to do the same to him. But why? Surely he could tell her what she needed to do?

But then, if he couldn't save himself, as she'd been told, why would he know what she should do? She sighed. She would have to figure this out on her own, again.

The school was fairly large (not that she really had anything to compare it to), and it took a good hour or so for Mytho to show her around. There were the general classrooms, ballet department (where she was given a leotard, tights, and ballet shoes), the meal hall (where a friendly cook gave her a pastry), the gardens, the pool and gymnasium, and finally the girls' dorms.

Mytho stopped between two large buildings, one on either side of them. "Well, this is where I must take my leave," he said. He pointed to the building behind him, then the one in front. "Those are the boys' dorms, and these are the girls'. Boys aren't allowed into the girls' dorms, or vice versa, for obvious reasons."

Duck didn't know what those reasons were, but didn't ask.

He handed her back the slip Berta had given her, sending the same rush of warmth up her arm. "Just show this to the matron inside, and she'll direct you to your dorm."

"Thank you," she said, wishing she didn't have to say goodbye. "It was very kind of you to show me around."

Mytho nodded. "You're welcome, Duck. Now if you'll excuse me," he said, giving her another polite bow and then heading off down the flower-lined path.

Duck sighed after him, putting a hand on her head. She took Fritz's hand again and walked with him into the girls' dormitory building.

The dorm building was large, dark, and cool. Everything was made of dark wood except the walls, which were a pale cream color. The hall stretched about two hundred feet down in either direction, ending in both elevators and staircases. Forty doors pecked the innermost wall, spaced about ten feet apart (not that Duck counted, but Fritz did). Little portraits hung at equal distances between doors down the hall, each one depicting a different girl and pokémon, and each with a plaque underneath that described the names and accomplishments of the people shown. Directly in front of the entrance was what looked like a reception area, with a desk that stretched from wall to wall. Behind the desk sat another young woman, not much older than Berta, although a lot less stressed-looking.

Duck and Fritz approached the desk. "Hello," Duck ventured, making the woman look up from her book. "Sorry to bother you, but—" she stopped, unable to articulate.

The young woman spoke after Duck trailed off. "You're the new student, right? Duck, was it?"

Duck nodded.

"Great. Don't worry; Berta called ahead to tell me about you. You're all set to go to your dorm, which is actually our last available one! You're one lucky girl," the woman said. "I'm Adelaide, the dorm matron. I make sure everyone's in bed by lights out, and that everyone gets to class every day. I'm also a guidance counselor; so don't hesitate to come to me with any problems." She smiled at Duck, who felt vaguely like she had stared at a light bulb for too long.

"Well, Duck, I'm sure you and your pokémon would like to get some rest before classes tomorrow. Your room is on the fifth floor, center room. Dorm number 521," Adelaide said, pointing to both of the elevators. "Dinner is served in the meal hall at six," she added. "You'll want to get there early to pick your seats."

"Thanks," Duck said. She was about to head for the elevator to her right when she remembered something. "C-can you tell me which room another student is in? Is that allowed?"

Adelaide smiled. "Oh, making friends already? Wonderful! Tell me their names and I'll check the listings for you." She pulled a binder onto her desk.

"Uh, Pique and Lilie. I don't know their last names, though," she said.

Adelaide nodded. "Luckily, I know those two well enough. Let's see…" She opened the binder. "Oh, it looks like Pique and Lilie are roommates in room 530. Even luckier—they're right down the hall from you! Isn't that great?"

Duck tried to mirror her enthusiasm and failed. "Y-yeah…"

She turned and fled to the elevator, unable to handle Adelaide's overly sunny mood any longer. Fritz was way ahead of her, having started waddling to the elevator a good minute before. He had just pressed the up button when she caught up with him. The doors dinged and opened, and the two entered. Fritz stood on his tiptoes and pressed the button for the fifth floor, already figuring that Duck wasn't quite sure how to work an elevator yet. Duck stopped herself from gasping when she felt the two of them being lifted, and from gasping again when they stopped and her stomach seemed to wiggle from the force of it.

Fritz said nothing as they exited the elevator, just gave her one of the looks she was coming to feel meant he was trying to figure her out. At least, that's what she guessed—who really knew what went on in a psyduck's head?

"We have a lot to talk about, Fritz," Duck said as they found the door labeled 521. She pushed open the door and had a look around her new home. "But first, welcome to our new home…"

The room was small, made of the same dark wood as the rest of the building. There was a recessed section in the back, which housed a desk, and over that a bed, which was neatly made up in blue and white sheets. A chest of drawers sat in the far corner, with a mirror atop it. A little wooden table sat nearby, with equally little and ornate lamp and clock atop it. Best of all, there was a large window complete with seat and cushion. A matching TV set and radio sat on a little stand next to the window, which Duck figured she probably wouldn't ever touch. All in all, she was immediately in love with the space.

She began unloading her bag and bundles, realizing that real humans must have lots more clothes to warrant a chest that big. Her four outfits (her current clothes, lone nightgown, school uniform, and dance clothes) fit in a single drawer with room to spare. Even adding her spare undergarments and socks didn't fill it completely. She lined her shoes up by the door, including the pair she'd worn all day. The contents of her backpack she emptied into the other five drawers, specifically putting her pokémon related items into the other top drawer, beside her clothes drawer.

She turned, putting her hands on her hips in an effort to steel her nerves. "Okay, Fritz. I owe you some more explanations." Fritz just watched her as she did her best. "Okay so I enrolled mostly to find the prince but also because I don't really know, well, anything, so I thought it would work out. And I chose the dance department because I saw the prince dancing and thought it was a good place to start. And I lied to Pique and Lilie because I had a gut feeling, even though now I feel bad about it."

Fritz didn't say anything, but he patted her hand understandingly.

The clock read 5:37 by the time she finished, and Duck figured it was probably time to change into her uniform and get to the meal hall for dinner (Mytho had told her that school uniforms were to be worn at all times while on campus unless otherwise specified). The dress was softer than she'd expected, and fit her fairly well, even if the skirt and sleeves were a little long (must be her short limbs, she decided). The shoes barely pinched, and Duck turned her socks down over the shoe strap as she'd seen Pique and Lilie wear them. Once dressed, she allowed herself a quick indulgent twirl in front of the mirror, to admire the way her dress ruffled.

She and Fritz made their way to the meal hall, which was now filled with students. Duck had never seen this many people at once—they lounged at round tables, or stood in lines holding trays, or in groups talking and joking. Feeling a little overwhelmed, Duck located the end of the food line. On the opposite wall was a vending-machine type thing that dispensed pokémon food into ceramic bowls, which had a line of both humans and pokémon in front of it. Fritz made his way to that line while Duck reluctantly stood alone at the end of hers.

The meal was uneventful—after Fritz got his food he rejoined Duck in her line, snacking while they waited. Duck quickly chose a small sandwich and salad, since she knew she liked both bread and vegetables. She would have time to experiment with her food choices later—right now she was only focusing on getting back to her room to rest. Duck finally relaxed enough to enjoy her food once they had sat down at an empty table off to the side of the hall. The food was good, and reminded her of the few meals she had shared with Edel and Uzura. She had to force herself not to sniffle while she ate after that.

Finally, the both of them finished their food. Duck took their dishes to the opening on one wall, behind which a grinning aipom whisked them away to the recesses of the kitchen. Duck made sure to thank her before they left for the dorms.

It was a short walk back to the girls' dorms. The room was gratefully empty, and Duck wasted no time changing into her nightgown and climbing the ladder into bed. Fritz joined her, and the two quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The morning air was crisp and cool, and fog settled in among the cobbled streets of the town and seeped in through the cracks in the window frame. Duck lay in her bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. She had pulled her blankets up to her chin, which she found made it easier to think. Fritz had long left the room, telling her that he was going to find a morning snack. Duck didn't mind—she felt she needed the alone time right now.

Events of the past day swam through her mind as she tried to make sense of them. Had she really just met him? Was it truly him? She'd spent an entire hour with him yesterday, and yet she still had no ideas as to what to do.

After a few minutes of this, Duck remembered her new status as student. Hurriedly, she tugged her uniform back on, shoving her ballet clothes into her bag. She wasn't sure what else to bring, but she hoped the teachers would enlighten her.

She ate a quick breakfast in the meal hall, opting for a bagel this time. Fritz joined her at last, from what Duck could only guess had been a full meal. The two of them set off in search of her classes.

Mytho had shown her how the slip listed the times she was supposed to attend each class, and their room numbers in case she got lost (she really hoped she wouldn't). Her first class was something called "homeroom," which was only a little ways away from the girls' dorms. Mytho had been so kind, really, to show her everything and give her extra hints on top of it all.

The school grounds were empty, leaving Duck and Fritz alone to recall where the main school building was, with some trouble. She knew it was near the dorms. Was it on the left path? Maybe the gardens?

"We should go this way, I think—"

Suddenly, everything was still—utterly, completely, and eerily still. All except her, that is. Even Fritz had frozen mid-stride. Shadows stretched out where there had previously been light, striking everything in sharp relief as if someone had shut off the sun and used an even brighter flashlight instead. Familiar silence crowded her ears, and she gasped at the familiarity of it. It was the same as that night—!

"Hello again, little ducklett," said the voice. "Or should I say, Duck?"

Duck felt her stomach drop as the voice laughed the same grating laugh as before.

"I see you've found the prince—and not a second too soon," it said, and suddenly appeared.

The face was the same—bushy eyebrows, staring eyes, and a large toothy smile—but the rest of it scared her even more. The disconnected hands still floated, white and gloved, but now there was a body to go with them. It was wrapped in a burgundy cloak, and floated about a foot or so above the ground.

She shivered in a mixture of fear and disgust. Why was he (she suddenly decided it was male) here? And why did he have to be so… creepy?

"W-whaddya mean, I'm just in time?" she asked warily. "What—who are you? And you better give me some real answers this time," she added, feeling more than a little defiant.

The monster grinned. "As for who I am, I can't tell you—where's the fun in that? And as for what I am, I don't think you'd really understand." Duck frowned at his patronizing tone.

"Well, you see," he continued, "Our dear, dear prince has lost his heart. And if he doesn't get it back soon, he'll become nothing more than a husk—and certainly won't be able to fulfill his royal duty of destroying the kingdom's enemies," he said, shaking a hand as if it were obvious.

"His heart? What? How could he lose his heart? And I talked to him just yesterday," she said. "He seemed fine to me?"

The face loomed over her in an odd way, seeming to grow larger without getting any closer.

"He shattered his heart in an attempt to thwart his enemies, without knowing the full consequences of his actions. And without his heart back, he _will_ die soon, obviously."

Duck clenched her fists in frustration. "Okay, well, then how am I supposed to save him? And why did I turn into a human? Wouldn't I have more power as a ducklett?"

"I turned you human, my dear, so you could use this," he said, and his hand closed and reopened, and a pokéball appeared in his palm. He released the locking mechanism, and Duck took a step back.

A slender gardevoir manifested directly in front of her, holding a small glittering ball in its hands. "This is Odette. She will guide you to finding and returning the shards of the prince's heart."

Odette curtsied deeply, and Duck awkwardly attempted to return the gesture.

"One last hint, Duck: you cannot tell anyone of your quest." They both glanced at Frisk. "Well, any other humans. And especially not our dear prince—if you tell him anything of your quest, _including_ your feelings, both you and Odette will disappear forever."

Dread welled up in her stomach at the ominous warning, suddenly grateful for the decision not to tell Pique and Lilie.

Odette remained serene, eyes closed peacefully as she was summoned back into her pokéball.

"Au revoir, little Duck," the voice said, and disappeared, leaving only the pokéball behind.

* * *

After giving Fritz a quick summary of her hair-raising encounter, Duck took Odette's ball dutifully, placing it in her bag alongside her clothes. The two—no, three—of them made it to homeroom just before the bell.

Pique and Lilie's voices rang out above the clamor of the room, and Duck spotted the two of them sitting in the back of the room.

"Hey, Duck! Come sit with us!"

"Duck! You're still alive!"

She felt a wave of relief wash over her. "Oh thank goodness, you guys," she said as she joined them. "I was afraid we wouldn't see each other again."

"Oh, how sweet," Lilie doted, scooting over so Duck would have room on the bench.

"We wanted to see you too, Duck," Pique said. "How did enrollment go?"

"Well, I got in," Duck said, trying to think back to what now seemed ages ago, even though it was only yesterday. "Nothing exciting happened," she lied.

"Aw, really? Not anything good?"

She wondered if there was a way to be truthful with her new friends without disappearing forever, but decided she didn't want to risk it. A watered-down version would have to do.

"Well," she started. "I met Mytho yesterday." Her face heated up as she recalled his kindness and warm eyes.

"Mytho?" Pique said incredulously. "You _met_ him? Did you confess?"

"Uhhh," Duck said. "No?"

Her two friends groaned. "Duuuuck, c'mon! You have to confess!"

"I-I do?" This confessing thing was sounding a lot like the thing the monster had explicitly warned her not to do. "B-but—"

"Oh, c'mon Duck. You can't keep your feelings a secret forever, it's not healthy," Pique said.

 _But that's exactly what I_ have _to do_ , Duck thought glumly, putting a hand in her bag to feel the cool surface of Odette's pokéball.

A bell rang in the distance, signaling for the beginning of class and startling Duck. The classroom door opened, and middle-aged man walked in. He wore a fitted green sweater that matched well with his dark complexion. His strict brown eyes belied his age, although if Duck had to guess she'd say older than Edel (she found Edel had quickly become her idea of a 'default human'). The man set his clipboard down, and a previously unnoticed purugly jumped onto the desk where he laid it.

"Good morning class," he said, after he had written the date on the chalkboard. "I'm glad you're all here on time. It's especially good since we have a new student."

Everyone turned to look at Duck, and she smiled nervously.

"Would you kindly come up and introduce yourself?"

Duck summoned all her courage and stood briskly. Rigidly, she made her way up to the front of the room, turning to get a good look at her new classmates (and they, her).

"H-hello," Duck stammered. "My name is Duck. I-I'm a new student here." She looked to the teacher for help.

"Hello, Ms. Duck," he replied kindly. "Why don't you tell us a little about yourself? Or introduce your pokémon?"

Duck nodded and turned back to face her classmates. "W-well, I'm in the dance department, and I love pokémon. I'm looking forward to living here." she gestured to Fritz, who had followed her to stand in the front of the room. "And this is Fritz, my psyduck," she added. Fritz gave a curt nod.

The teacher placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We welcome you, Ms. Duck, Mr. Fritz. Please, take your seat." The two of them quickly did so, slouching relieved next to Pique and Lilie.

Class went smoothly after that. Duck discovered that a normal class period was only about forty-five minutes long, and that students stayed in their homeroom as the teachers rotated between classes. That not only meant she didn't have to rush between classes or travel, but also that she wouldn't have to redo any introductions. Homeroom was really just a time for class announcements and attendance, and only took about ten minutes. After that came Literature, History, Maths, Science, and (her favorite) Pokémon Studies. Between each class was a short break, to allow students to get water and use the bathroom and such. Altogether, classes were over by a little after noon, which was when the meal hall opened for lunch.

"So what do you think of school so far, Duck?" Pique asked as the three of them stood in line for food.

"Well, I thought all the teachers seemed nice," she said. "And I'm glad classes only last the morning," she continued as she added a large spoonful of fruit salad to her plate.

"That's because the afternoons are reserved for clubs and department classes," Pique explained. "After lunch we get about a twenty minute break to put our books up, and then we go to our respective departments."

Lilie butted in, almost spilling her soup on Duck. "You said in homeroom that you're in the dance department, right?"

Duck nodded, and Pique and Lilie shared a gleeful look. "So are we! Isn't that great?!" Lilie bounced a little too excitedly, and both Duck and Pique had to dodge the drops of soup that splashed from her bowl.

"Oh, yeah," Duck agreed, following them to an empty table, where Fritz met up with them. Trailing close behind were a plusle and minun, each carrying their own bowls.

Duck gasped in delight. "Are you two with Pique and Lilie?" she asked the pokémon, leaning down towards them intently.

"Oh, yeah!" Pique answered instead. "That's my plusle, Ida, and Lilie's minun, Lenore. We've been together basically forever."

Ida and Lenore scrambled to seat themselves on the bench seat next to Fritz, and Duck spent the rest of the meal watching them adoringly as they all ate. She thought she saw Fritz roll his eyes at one point, although she wasn't sure.

* * *

The six of them spent their free time returning their books to their dorms, and then walking through the gardens to the dance department. Duck lavished in the warm spring sunlight until the last moment, when she had to enter the building.

The girl's changing rooms were already full of girls around her age, in as many variations as she could imagine. Short girls, tall girls, skin in every tone, hair all in ponytails or pigtails or buns, and all wearing pastel blue leotards and white tights. She suddenly remembered her own leotard—she pulled it out of her bag quickly, dismayed. Hers was different—white with a blue band around the waist, rather than the pale blue that seemed to be the norm.

She recalled the words of the girl who had given them to her yesterday: "We're completely out of the current design in your size, so you'll have to wear this version from a few years ago. You don't mind, do you?" Duck had agreed, not really listening.

She sighed, and then quickly got changed into her dance clothes. Hopefully she wouldn't stand out too much.

She was surprised to see her homeroom teacher standing in the middle of the dance room, with the rest of her classmates sitting in a rough semicircle on the floor in front of him. A few various pokémon sat alongside them. Fritz had already joined the group on the floor, and patted the spot next to him. Duck sat next down quickly, hoping she could stay on the floor with the rest of the group.

Her hopes were dashed, though, when once again she was forced to introduce herself in front of the class (and this was almost twice as big as her homeroom class had been, she thought with a groan). A whisper went through the class at the sight of her uniform, which, although clean, was not in the best shape comparatively (the seat of it, particularly, was a little thin). Duck tried not to think of that as she rambled out another introduction for herself and Fritz.

When she finally got to sit on the floor with the rest of her classmates, she took a second to take in the room. It was large, nearly forty feet on all sides, with a gleaming wood floor. A wooden handrail (which she soon learned was called a _barre_ ) stood in a half-rectangle a foot or so away from the walls. A large semicircle window dominated one wall, giving an excellent view of the gardens outside.

"Thank you, Ms. Duck. Now, let's all introduce ourselves as well, shall we, class? It's important for us to strengthen our group ties," the teacher said. "I'll go first. I'm Mr. Katze, the dance instructor. This is my purugly, Pavlova," he said, and bowed to Duck. Pavlova didn't bother, and Duck decided not to take it personally.

The class went one by one, quickly introducing themselves to her and Fritz (but they didn't have to stand, Duck noticed wryly). The human part of the class was almost entirely girls, with the exception of a single boy. The pokémon were far more varied. Nevertheless, they all introduced themselves politely (if somewhat annoyed in some cases).

After the introductions, Mr. Katze set the students to begin their warm-up stretches—all except Duck and Fritz, whom he took aside to talk privately.

"Ms. Duck, Mr. Fritz," he started. "I'm very glad you chose the dance department, and I hope we can all work together to make you two the best dancers you can be. However, I must warn you."

"W-warn?" Duck asked, feeling her stomach drop.

"Oh dear, not like that! You see, the school year is more than halfway over, being March, and all of your classmates have had months to practice. I'm afraid you're at a bit of a disadvantage, time-wise."

Duck nodded glumly. "O-oh. I hadn't thought of that," she said.

"All of us teachers are more than willing to work with you one-on-one to help you catch up, so don't be discouraged about the current gap," Mr. Katze said encouragingly. "I'm sure as long as you try your best, you'll do just fine."

"Y-yeah," Duck replied, trying to squash the new ripples of anxiety that exploded in her stomach. Fritz patted her knee consolingly.

"One more thing," Mr. Katze said. "We need to assess your skill level before you can continue. Please stay after class is over so we can see which class to place you in."

"Uh, okay," Duck said, nodding even as a new wave of anxiety surged. She had no experience at all!

"For now, why don't you start some stretches?"

Reluctantly, Duck walked over to an empty spot at the _barre_ , feeling stupid—she didn't know what she was doing at all. She was going to be found out as a fraud. They would kick her out of the department, of the school—she would have to find some other way to reach the prince.

"Watch," she heard Fritz say, and she swung her head to look at him. He sat on the floor, chubby arms stretching to touch his webbed feet. "Copy me."

"Were you paying attention to the stretches all this time?" she asked gratefully, sitting beside him. She did her best to imitate his movements as he went through several stretches.

Duck was surprised at how involved the pokémon were in class. It wasn't just the humans dancing—everyone was stretching and practicing at the _barre_.

She caught the tail end of one of Mr. Katze's spiels. "—Need to work as a team, Bernadine. You and Beno need to read each other's movements and support each other. You're friends with your pokémon, are you not? Then I suggest you take some time tonight to do trust building exercises." The offending pair resumed their practice diligently.

"Huh," Duck muttered to herself. So this was also to build camaraderie between trainer and pokémon. It seemed to work, too, from what she could tell.

Pavlova roamed between the students, presumably keeping an eye on things. She was squat, and her face always had a judgmental expression. Duck tried her best to avoid making eye contact; she didn't want to get on Pavlova's bad side any time soon. She didn't particularly care if Pavlova never found out about her ability, either.

Fritz kindly and patiently talked her through the stretches she didn't understand, and Duck thanked whatever deity was looking out for her that she had found another friend in all this mess.

* * *

The skill assessment went abysmally. Duck was forced to reveal that she had no prior knowledge (of anything, really), much to her embarrassment and shame. She knew she had a great excuse for being ignorant, but it wasn't like she could tell her teachers about it. Surprisingly, Fritz had done fairly well—Duck guessed it was from observing their classmates, but she wasn't sure. Either way, Duck and Fritz were firmly placed in the beginner class.

By the time they finished the assessment it was almost four, and Duck was more than ready to peel out of her leotard and take a shower. She had to ask for help working the knobs in the changing room shower, but she'd decided that was better than walking all the way back to her dorm in her sweat (and she didn't like the idea of other people seeing her look like that, either).

Dinner was a quiet affair, since Pique and Lilie were nowhere to be found. Duck didn't mind too much; they probably had homework, and she wasn't sure she could handle Lilie's remarks about being placed in the beginner class just yet. Fritz certainly didn't seem to mind their absence—he ate with his usual restraint.

The quiet of her dorm was welcome after a long day surrounded by people and pokémon and chatter, and she gratefully began getting ready for bed. Everything felt great—especially her loose nightgown, which was a relief after the sweaty clinginess of her leotard.

She placed her books (given to her by her teachers at the start of classes) and pencils in a stack on her desk, and draped her leotard and tights on the chair to air out a bit, making a mental note to ask someone what she should do about laundry. Finally, only Odette's pokéball was left in her bag.

It wasn't heavy, like she'd imagined an occupied pokéball to be, although she couldn't be sure if it was the same weight as an empty one. It had an odd design that she had only seen a glimpse of at Edel's house; a pink top with a heart pattern in the front. She had no idea what kind of ball it was, but she guessed it was rare. It fit well in her hand, and she rubbed a thumb over the release button as she thought.

"Odette, huh?" she murmered.

After a moment of hesitation, she released the catch.


	4. One And One Makes One

The room was soaked in soft twilight, and the curtains fluttered from the wind that swept in through the open window. A soft beam of light stretched curiously across the room, lighting the three figures inside in bits and pieces.

Duck realized she had been holding her breath as she knelt on the ground, Odette standing before her. Blue eyes locked onto red ones as she struggled to find the right words.

"Who are you?" she asked finally, realizing even as she said it how stupid it sounded.

Odette didn't reply, which Duck was fairly used to by now. Why didn't anyone believe her when she said she could understand pokémon? And especially this gardevior, who had been given to her specifically, didn't believe her.

"You can tell me, you know," she tried again. "I understand pokémon, really."

Still nothing.

Duck groaned and turned to Fritz. "Of course I'm getting nowhere," she said, slumping forward til her forehead rested on the wood floor. "Ugh."

 _Please forgive me. I didn't mean to make you upset._

The voice echoed in her mind like tinkling chimes, and she slowly pulled back upright to look at Odette.

"D-did you—?" Duck had to keep her mouth from gaping.

Odette looked the same as before, eyes staring steadfastly into her own. _Yes. And to answer your first question, I am Odette. I am here to help you locate and return the shards of the prince's heart. I don't remember much else._

"But, how? How will we find them?"

 _When the time comes, it will happen. It is…hard to explain in words._ She offered an apologetic tilt of the head.

"So we can't, like… practice or anything?" Duck asked hopefully.

Odette shook her head. _It would take too much energy, I'm afraid._

Duck sighed. "Of course it would. Well, at least you'll probably be better in dance class than I am."

 _Oh…speaking of that... No one can know about me._

"What? Whaddya mean?" Duck asked incredulously. "But you're so cool!"

Odette smiled softly. _Thank you. But if people know about me, they might draw a connection between our mission and us._ _You'll understand soon._

"I hope you're right," Duck grumbled. "I don't like keeping secrets."

 _If all goes well, Duck, you won't have to for long_.

* * *

Fakir had never really paid any attention to the students in the beginner dance class—even when he had been a part of it—and he wasn't really sure what had made him look that way in the first place. It wasn't as if there was some threat to Mytho, or some familiar face. Even so, he felt his eyes drawn towards some presence hiding in the group of adolescent girls. Maybe it was one of their pokémon?

His own pokémon—today, his lucario Asim—sat next to him as they waited for Mr. Katze to continue. "—Part of the collaboration with the pokémon studies teachers, we will have another combination battle-dance tournament at the end of the school year. You are all encouraged to participate. And it counts as extra credit, which shouldn't be the main incentive here. The true draw should really be the chance to strengthen the bonds between trainer and pokémon—" he continued, and Fakir only half listened.

He was careful keep his eyes straight ahead, just in case the presence was watching him. Until he knew who or what it was that made his spine tingle like this, he was going to act like there was nothing going on.

As if he could sense his unease, Asim laid a comforting paw on his shoulder. Fakir gave a flash of an almost imperceptible smile in return. Whatever this presence was, it couldn't hurt them even if it tried. Probably.

Mytho sat on his other side, aegislash resting peacefully in his lap. Mytho had always been the type to be casually intimate with his pokémon (and his friends—the boy had no sense of personal space, as Fakir had found out a long time ago). Fakir thought it odd, in an endearing way. It was easy return the intimacy when it was with Mytho.

Fakir was tempted to ask Mytho if he felt the presence as well, but knew better than to ask right then. Mr. Katze didn't like people interrupting, and his purugly would come after rude students with a vengeance. Instead, Fakir spent the rest of the class acting the same as always; doing his own practice while surreptitiously keeping one eye on Mytho at all times.

Class continued normally—all skill levels met for classes together twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, while on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they met at different times. Personally, he preferred the classes where he _didn't_ have amateur dancers flailing under his feet, but as he didn't want to incur the wrath of Pavlova he didn't voice it.

Halfway through the class, the presence began to fade in intensity, and by the time the class was over it was gone so completely Fakir began to wonder if he had really felt it in the first place. It wouldn't be the first time he'd imagined some threat to Mytho, only to find it was nothing to worry about. Rue, for instance—although he still had suspicions about her. But at the same time, he couldn't get rid of the nagging sense that something was up, and it irked him that he couldn't place it.

The dance room emptied quickly as students made their way to the changing rooms, and soon he and Asim were standing alone.

"Did you sense it too, Asim?" he asked.

Asim nodded, looking off to a corner that had previously been occupied by a few of the beginner students.

Fakir folded his arms pensively. "One of them, huh?"

He would have to investigate later.

* * *

A week or so had passed since Odette's cryptic message, and Duck found herself quickly becoming accustomed to living life as a human girl. Sure, she wasn't exactly a normal one, and she wasn't sure how long this situation would go on, but she certainly could enjoy it while it lasted. She did miss her pokémon abilities a bit, but exchanging them for this adventure seemed like a fair trade. In the past week and a half she had talked to more people and pokémon than she had in her whole life previously. All these new experiences and friends were really growing on her, and a part of her wanted to put off finding Mytho's heart and just let this moment go on forever. But the rest of her knew that saving Mytho was much more important than any of that, and so she waited anxiously for a sign from Odette.

That sign came, finally, on the morning of her second Tuesday. The sun shone merrily through the clouds, and Duck practically skipped down the cobbled path, Fritz waddling beside her.

"I'm so glad Pique showed me how to do laundry," she said, thinking back to when she had been forced to wear her dirty leotard to class because she didn't know how to clean them. "Clean clothes feel so much better. 'Course, you don't have to worry about clothes, do you?" She sighed wistfully. "I kinda miss that sometimes. But then again, all my clothes now are so cute!"

Fritz quacked in agreement.

"Oh, do you remember what we're doing today? Mr. Katze said there was some sort of competition going on."

"Battles," Fritz replied. "Tournament."

"Ohhhh," Duck said, finally remembering. "That's it. We're gonna have our first pokémon battle in class today." She made a face; she'd never been in any sort of pokémon battle before, and she knew practically nothing about them. And, come to think of it, she knew practically nothing about Fritz's experience, either.

"Say," she started, bending down while she walked so that her head was closer to Fritz's level. "How strong are you, anyway? What kinda moves do you know?"

Fritz looked at her askance. "Good enough," he replied simply.

"Hmm," she said, straightening up. "Too bad I can't use Odette—I'm sure she'd be perfect for this."

Fritz turned his head away sharply and harrumphed as only a psyduck could, and Duck had to spend the rest of the walk trying to cheer him up.

Homeroom was about to start by the time they arrived, and Duck sat in her usual seat just as the bell rang. Fritz clambered onto the bench next to Ida and Lenore, away from Duck, who noticed it and frowned. She repressed the urge to whisper yet another apology to him as Mr. Katze walked in the room.

"Good morning, class," he began, after getting settled behind the desk at the front of the room. "Tomorrow is a big day—it's the first round of our annual school-wide pokémon tournament, which will be held over this next month. I hope you've all been working on your strategies!"

Oh. She'd screwed up the dates again. Well, at least that gave her more time.

Pique clenched her hands excitedly, and Lilie let out a dreamy sigh. Duck just grimaced in anticipation of her doomed performance. If her dance placement was any indication, she didn't have nearly enough experience as she'd like.

"Are you guys ready for this?" she whispered behind her hand.

Pique grinned. "You bet I am! Ida and I have been training for weeks!"

Lilie waved her hand cheerfully. "I don't care how well I do. It's more fun to watch everyone else. And listen to the gossip. Can't go without the gossip."

"Speaking of gossip," Pique started, "have you heard about what happened with Rue and Mytho?"

Duck perked up at the mention of Mytho. "What happened?" She knew Rue, of course—anyone who knew of Mytho knew her. She was the best ballerina in the school, had the best grades in her year, and gorgeous to boot. She was perfect—and the perfect girl for Mytho, which was probably why the two were a couple. Duck tried not to think about that, though.

"I heard they broke up! And now Mytho's got a new girlfriend!" Pique whispered harshly.

Lilie repressed a squeal. "That fast? Talk about _drama_!"

Duck's mouth fell open as she processed this information. Rue and Mytho broke up? But who would be better for him than Rue? A little voice spoke in the back of her mind, and she quickly quashed it.

"Who's he dating now?" she asked, mouth dry.

"Anterina, I think."

Lilie's eyes widened. " _Her_? I did not see that coming… I wonder how Rue is taking it all?" she said.

Duck had no idea who Anterina was, but she doubted the girl was as good a match as Rue.

"Such timing!" Lilie breathed, clutching her face in her hands. "Just when the town is being overrun with a new villainous gang!"

"Gang?" Duck asked, feeling even more lost. "What gang?"

"You didn't hear? There's a bunch of criminals making messes in town—what was the name again, Lilie?"

"Team Raven, I think," Lilie replied. "A good, mournful name, if I do say so."

"What kind of stuff are they doing?" Duck asked worriedly. "Is it dangerous?"

"Right now they're not doing anything big," Pique assured her. "Just stealing, trespassing, disturbing the peace. That sorta thing."

"Can't they get into the school?"

"Oh, no," Lilie replied sourly. "The school gate is locked because of them. They've upped security, too."

"Don't worry Duck, you'll be fine here. Besides, you have Fritz, and us! Those thugs can't hope to stand against the three of us together," Pique whispered confidently, patting Duck's hand.

Mr. Katze cleared his throat. "Is there something you girls would like to share with the class, or can I get back to teaching?" The three of them straightened.

"No, sir!" they chorused, and Duck avoided looking at Pavlova, who was giving them her patented glare. They were quiet for the rest of the class.

* * *

Duck was almost late for dance class again. She hadn't quite gotten used to reading analog clocks yet (the one in her dorm was digital), and she had taken way too much time enjoying her lunch than she should have. On the plus side, at least she'd decided she loved sushi.

Since it was Tuesday, the dance room was more crowded than usual, and she managed to scoot into a spot in the back without being noticed. She had really pushed her luck this time—Mr. Katze started class just after she and Fritz sat down.

"As preparation for the tournament, our lesson today will be on how to effectively fuse the passion and strategy of a pokémon battle with the grace and discipline of ballet. Who would like to demonstra—"

A voice cut him off. "I would! And I have a preposition," said a tall brunette who was largely unfamiliar to Duck. She stood up proudly, her hand still raised and eyebrows furrowed in determination.

"Ms. Anterina," Mr. Katze said wearily, "We've talked about this. There is simply no space in the advanced class this year—"

Again, he was unable to finish. "My plan," Anterina said emphatically, "is simple. We don't have to add more spaces to the advanced class. We just need to replace a student with someone better." She looked scornfully at her classmates. "Specifically, Rue."

A chatter went up among the class as Rue stood.

"Yes, Anterina?" Rue said nonchalantly. "What sort of challenge do you have in mind?"

"I propose a four-way double ballet battle. One pokémon per trainer. And my partner," she added, "will be Mytho."

Rue's expression didn't change as Mytho and his pokémon got up to stand next to Anterina.

"Who will you choose, Rue?" Anterina asked derisively.

Rue turned to face her classmates, eyes scanning quickly, then stopping—on her?! No, couldn't be. Must be Pique or Lilie or someone else—

"Would you be my partner?" Rue asked, looking her in the eyes directly.

Duck's heart leapt to her throat. "M-me?" It crept up even farther when Rue nodded.

"If you would be so kind, yes."

Mr. Katze looked like he was struggling between saying something and just letting the situation play out. After a bit of hesitation and some odd facial expressions, the latter won, and he sighed.

Legs wobbling, Duck got to her feet. "O-okay…" she said, walking mechanically to stand next to Rue.

"Y'know I'm not really very good at this stuff, like, at all, so maybe there would be someone better for this…?" she whispered hurriedly, her arms stiff at her side.

"It'll be fine—just follow my directions," Rue said gently. Duck nodded nervously. She and Fritz exchanged looks. A thought hit her—she knew she had no experience, but what about Fritz? Had he ever been in a battle before? He at least knew more than she did—right?

After a bit of arguing between Anterina and Mr. Katze, the class moved to a different classroom for the demonstration. A part of the school was devoted to both indoor and outdoor battle arenas, and despite Anterina's impatience to begin, she did agree that potentially ruining the dance room wasn't worth it.

This particular arena was the closest to the dance room, and wasn't very big. It was a fair sized rectangle, maybe twenty feet wide and forty long. Markings on the floor indicated where the trainers were to stand, and the referee.

Duck now stood on those markings, Fritz inside the arena in front of her. Rue was to her left, and Anterina and Mytho across from them. Mr. Katze took the referee's spot, a high chair off to the side of the arena that offered a good viewpoint.

"Here are the rules," Mr. Katze began. "This is a single-pokémon double ballet battle. Once a pokémon has fainted, it is out. If a pokémon leaves the arena, it is out. If a trainer enters the arena, they and their pokémon are out. Both trainer teams must dance a _pas de deux_ during the battle. The winners will be decided both on how they battle and how they dance." He eyed Duck pointedly before continuing. "Take out your pokémon. Choose wisely."

Anterina tsked in disdain, pulling out a pokéball and releasing it. "Anja, it's time to shine!" she said loudly as a rather hulking heatmor appeared in the arena. Duck gulped.

Mytho produced his own pokéball, which had a design Duck had never seen before. "Come out please, Felix." His aegislash appeared, glittering in the light Anja was giving off beside it.

"Ava, please accompany me," Rue said, nonchalant as ever, opening her pokéball. A sleek linoone appeared beside Fritz, and Duck felt a little better. Maybe she would do okay after all.

"Alright," Mr. Katze said briskly. "Since Anterina's team is challenging, Rue's team has the first turn. You may begin." He waved his hand, signaling for the class to quiet down and watch.

"Just follow my lead," Rue said reassuringly, already standing _en pointe_.

As she and Duck curtsied to their opponents, she called out to her linoone. "Ava, sniff him out!"

Ava did so quickly, and Duck realized she was using odor sleuth, which would be handy against Mytho's aegislash. Directly after that, she realized she had no idea what moves Fritz knew. Focusing on her balance as Rue spun her, she called out the first move that came to mind.

"Fritz, use…splash?" It came out as more of a question than she had hoped it would. Fritz shot her a look of disbelief.

Rue noticed the uncertainty in her voice. "Fritz—," she called hurriedly. "You know what to do!" From the look on Rue's face, Duck could tell it was awkward (if not taboo) to direct your teammate's pokémon, but since she was obviously clueless, there was no other choice if they wanted to win. Fritz recognized this too, apparently, as he simply nodded and picked his best move.

The battle went on in rather the same fashion after that first exchange. Even with Ava's odor sleuth and Fritz's type advantage over Anja, the other team was just too strong. Felix dealt a heavy blow to Fritz on the first turn, and the little psyduck struggled to stay standing for the rest of the battle. Duck's inability to lead meant that Ava and Fritz were at a disadvantage.

And then there was Anja. She was a powerhouse, and it seemed that none of Ava's or Fritz's moves affected her, even the water type ones. And she moved with such speed that Duck couldn't help wondering if it was normal for a heatmor to be that fast.

Duck spent most of her concentration on keeping up with Rue, who was doing a miraculous job considering her position. Even while dancing with an amateur, she directed Ava with ease, and after a few minutes of battling Felix had fainted.

Their hopes were in vain, though, as it seemed nothing could get to Anja, and Ava and Fritz had both taken heavy hits. It was only a minute or two before Fritz was down as well (which made Duck's pirouette wobble with worry—and she almost fell over herself). Ava's last stand was brave and calculated, causing as much damage as possible to Anja before she was knocked clear out of the arena.

Rue guided Duck to a somewhat dignified finishing pose before summoning Ava back to her pokéball. Mytho somberly did the same for Felix, while Duck dropped to Fritz's side. Delicately, she pulled him into her lap, wishing he had a pokéball to return to.

"The battle is over," Mr. Katze announced, one hand on his chin. "Ms. Anterina and Mr. Mytho won the battle portion," he continued. "…But the overall winners are Ms. Rue and Ms. Duck." The latter name was a little forced, Duck noticed.

The class broke out in chatter again.

Anterina gasped in indignation. "What? Why?" she asked angrily. "I'm the superior trainer here!"

"That's really not for you to judge, Ms. Anterina. And although you and Mr. Mytho were a good team and won the battle, Rue did magnificently in both the dance and duel portions."

Duck realized she hadn't paid much attention to how Anterina and Mytho were dancing their pas de deux. Knowing Mytho, it couldn't have been worse than hers—

"Ms. Rue not only danced well herself, but also guided a much younger and more inexperienced dancer to do rather well—all while leading both her and her partner's pokémon in battle. You and Mr. Mytho did well, yes, but you're both disciplined dancers," Mr. Katze explained further. "If this were an even matchup, there is no doubt she would have won then as well. And besides, I can't allow you to declare duels whenever you feel like it during class. It's not courteous to your classmates. Please, talk to me after class so we can sort this out, okay?"

Anterina's face screwed up in a frown as she obviously held back livid tears. "This isn't over, Rue," she choked out viciously, before turning and running from the room.

The room was filled with awkward silence as everyone processed what had just happened. Mr. Katze coughed, then clapped his hands. "All right, everyone! What a demonstration of how one can truly combine dance and battling, eh?" A soft chorus of agreement echoed as the students got up from their seats. "Let's get back to the dance classroom to finish up today's lesson." He turned to Duck, who was still cradling Fritz in her arms. "You should take him to the infirmary," he said quietly. "I'll give you the rest of this class off, if you promise to use this time to get to know your Mr. Fritz better. You won't get very far at all if you don't, now will you?"

Duck nodded, standing up carefully so not to jostle Fritz. "Thank you, Mr. Katze," she said somberly.

"Of course, Ms. Duck. Now show me how brilliant of a team you can become, eh?"

* * *

The infirmary was a large room off the main hallway, which was well equipped to handle one fainted pokémon. The nurse asked her why Fritz wasn't in a pokéball, and she had to make up something about leaving it at her grandmother's house. It was almost true—Fritz hadn't bothered to bring his pokéball with him once he became homeless, and it was likely somewhere in the late old woman's house. Either way, healing without the aid of a pokéball took a little more time, so she was forced to wait.

It was after she had laid Fritz in the infirmary cot when it finally happened.

 _Duck, I sense a heart shard!_ Odette's mental whisper came suddenly, carrying with it twinges of anticipation and…joy?

Duck sent a thought back. _Where?_

 _In that heatmor you just battled._

She blinked. Really? Well, Anja had seemed oddly strong for a heatmor. _Okay, what do I do?_

 _Find somewhere secluded and let me out of my pokéball. I will help you from there._

She obeyed, scampering into a nearby empty classroom and locking the door behind her. She dug out Odette's ball from her bag and clumsily thumbed the catch.

"What next?" she asked, feeling her heart begin to pound. Finally, what she came here for!

 _Do you trust me, Duck_?

"Huh?"

 _For this to work, you must trust me. Do you?_ Odette's mental voice was serious.

Duck nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah…I do."

 _Good._ Odette reached out one hand towards her, palm up. _Now take my hand._

She grasped the offered hand, and Odette put her other hand on Duck's pendant. As she clasped it, Duck could feel something inside her tugging, twisting, melting… It felt like she was going to sleep and waking up at the same time, like a flower was growing up through her soul and body and mind. All she wanted to do was close her eyes…

* * *

Princess Tutu opened her eyes.

It was a strange, indescribable feeling, having two beings merged seamlessly into each other, so much so that it was almost impossible to pick where one consciousness ended and the other began. Both were in charge, and at the same time, neither of them. Either way, Princess Tutu knew what she had to do.

The heart shard was nearby—a pulsing, almost magnetic force that beckoned and repulsed her in turn. As she followed the aura to its source, the more Duckish part of her was awed by the natural grace of her movements. She felt like a pokémon again! No matter how human this form looked, there was no mistaking the power that flowed through her veins. It was a marvelous feeling, like someone had replaced her blood with something lighter and carbonated.

She followed the shard's energy to a small gazebo in the campus gardens, where Anterina sat by herself, head in her hands. Princess Tutu watched silently as tears leaked from between her fingers and onto her lap. Her heatmor, Anja, was beside her mistress, comfortingly stroking her back when Tutu approached.

It was a second or two before either of them noticed her presence. Anja stood and growled defensively beside Anterina, who looked up.

"Who…?" Anterina started weakly, confusion plastered on her face.

"Don't worry, Anterina, Anja. I wish you no harm," Princess Tutu said, holding her hands out in a peaceful gesture. "What is wrong?"

Confusion crossed Anterina's face, but then she smiled bitterly. "Like you care. I don't know how you know our names, and I don't care. Leave me alone."

"I do care, Anterina," she said, and reached out her hand. "Please, won't you dance with me?"

Anterina stood scornfully, tears drying a little. "Dance? You want to dance with me? No one wants to dance with me, the Rue-wannabe."

"Is that how you really feel?" Tutu asked, concerned. "I think you're a wonderful dancer. Please, just dance with me."

"You're just mocking me!" Anterina cried. "You saw how I lost to Rue and now you're rubbing it in! Anja, use flame burst!"

Before the flames could reach her, she instinctively threw her arm in a defensive gesture—and watched as a cloud of petals appeared in front of the blast, shielding her effectively, though they vanished along with the fire.

"Wha—How—" Anterina stepped back in astonishment.

"Why are you so angry? What is wrong?" Princess Tutu's sincere voice fell on deaf ears.

"I don't know how you're doing this, but there's no way I'm losing twice in a row!"

More flames, and again Tutu produced a shield of petals. "I don't want to fight you, Anterina. I want to help you. What is wrong? Why are you so bitter and upset?"

"What kind of question is that? Rue has everything! Fans, a boyfriend, prestige—and I can't even amount to half of that, can I?" Tears streaked down her face once more. "I really am just a wannabe…"

Finally, she was close enough to take by the hand. In the instant their fingers touched, Anterina's memories flowed between them. How she had always looked up to Rue, the years she had spent practicing ballet, training with Anja, how she had asked Rue for advice— _how can I dance like you?_ —The hurt and disappointment she had felt at those words, that her idol could say something so shattering in such a matter-of-fact way, how she had found the curious stone that made Anja stronger, thinking that _this_ was the way to show Rue who was better—all of it washed over Tutu as Anterina overflowed.

"Oh, Anterina," she said empathetically, taking Anterina's hand. "I understand why you feel like this."

Anterina hesitated, but eventually relented to dance with her.

The two spun gracefully around the gazebo as Tutu continued. "…But you do not have to be angry. When Rue said you could not dance like her, she just meant that there was no way for you to ever be exactly like her. You do not have to prove anything—you are already special just by being you."

At this, Anterina stopped. A flood of emotions crossed her face—confusion, disdain, and finally, surprise. "You're…you're right. I don't have to be like Rue to be a good ballerina, or trainer. I just have to be the best version of myself." She looked anxiously into Tutu's eyes. "Oh, what have I done? Now she'll hate me—"

"No," Tutu said calmly, clasping her hand in both her own. "Rue knows your ambition, and does not hate you for it. I am sure of it."

"But—what do I do?"

"Have hope," she said simply. "If you try your hardest, I am certain you will become something great."

Anterina wiped her face with the heel of her free hand and sniffed. "You've stopped me from doing something stupid and hateful," she said. "How can I ever thank you?"

"Seeing you at peace is enough for me," she replied.

"Oh," Anterina said, turning to Anja suddenly. After a moment she swiveled back to face Tutu, holding a small red crystal. "You should take this," she said, placing it in Tutu's palm. "Anja and I are going to get stronger on our own, without taking any shortcuts."

Princess Tutu nodded. "I know you will do well."

Anterina sniffed again, almost all the tears dried from her face. "I have to go do something," she said, pulling out her pokéball and summoning her heatmor back into it. "C'mon, Anja."

She hadn't gotten far when she stopped and looked back, but the gazebo was already empty.

* * *

The gardens were a wonderful place for a late afternoon nap. There was no shortage of soft grass and shade, as well as innumerable flowers that lulled you to sleep in minutes. Mytho liked to nap there most days, especially after a hard workout with his team. And they liked it too—Felix, Adalwin, and Philomena would all curl up alongside him and rest as well.

Today, though, Mytho wasn't quite sleeping. He didn't know what exactly was going on with Anterina—just that she had asked him to help her out with a battle today, and he had agreed. He'd had no idea that it was going to be against Rue, and especially not that Rue would choose the new girl for a partner. Well, she certainly wouldn't have picked Fakir.

Rue. What had she been thinking, picking the new girl? Duck—that was her name, he remembered—wasn't exactly the best trainer or ballerina. Had…had she chosen her _because_ of that? To make herself look good in front of the class?

No—she wouldn't have. Sure, Rue was a little selfish, but she wouldn't risk injuring Ava just for prestige. It was probably just to send a message to him; that she could do well on her own. That she didn't need him.

He sighed. If he had known the battle was to try and humiliate Rue, he would never have agreed to be Anterina's partner. He just thought he was helping a classmate out.

But how was he going to tell Rue that? Would she believe him, anyway?

Suddenly he felt queasy—ever since he had shattered the Prince's Heart he hadn't been feeling up to scratch, and it seemed to get worse every passing day now. Wearily, he rubbed his forehead, hoping that the nausea would go away. Usually he could handle the aches and the chronic fatigue, but now the addition of feeling like he was about to puke was threatening to send him to bed permanently.

Even then, he didn't regret shattering the Heart. Too many people and pokémon had died for its power—it was broken, diminished, sealed away where no one could get it.

He closed his eyes tiredly, eventually dozing off. Philomena, Adalwin, and Felix were still in their pokeballs, since he hadn't yet taken Felix to be healed and revived at the infirmary. Thus, he slept alone.

A voice woke him—a gentle, soft voice that spoke his name reverently. He opened his eyes slowly, focusing on the figure kneeling before him. It was a girl, one he'd never seen before but who looked terribly familiar at the same time. Her white tutu shone in the late afternoon sun.

"Who…?" he murmured, confused but not afraid.

"Are you well, my prince?"

Prince. So she knew about the Heart. What could she want with it? With him?

"Please, take this," she said earnestly, and held out her hand.

His blood ran cold at the sight of it—the small chunk of red crystal, sitting squarely in this girl's palm.

"How did you get that?" Mytho asked, sitting up suddenly. How was this happening? He had been certain it was sealed away, and yet here it was, a shard of the Heart, right in front of him. And who knew where the rest of it was? He barely remembered the date he had smashed it, let alone how many pieces there were.

The girl avoided his question. "Please, Prince. You need your heart."

His—?

He took it from her wordlessly, deciding. It was better to know where the shards were than to have them floating around. It was too dangerous any other way.

The stone felt warm and heavy in his hand.

"I'll take it," he said decisively.

The girl smiled in relief. "I am glad, my prince. Please, be safe."

And with that, she was gone, and Mytho was left with too many questions to go back to sleep.


	5. Oops, I Passed Out

"If Mytho is sleeping in the garden again," Fakir muttered to himself as he swiped a hanging branch out of his face, "I really am going to let him have it." The idle threat wasn't even half true—Fakir didn't have the heart to fight with Mytho about anything these days. Sure, he would grumble and scowl, but Mytho needed the sleep anyway; Fakir just wished it wasn't in someplace so open.

Mytho's health hadn't been the greatest even before he had taken the mantle of the Prince, and it had recently taken a worrying turn for the worst. Daily ballet practice was really pushing it, too—Mytho usually ended the day fatigued and ready for bed. His pokémon did what they could, as did Fakir, but short of a miracle, there was no way to ease his pains completely. Fakir had resigned himself to the fact that Mytho would always be sickly, so he needed to work twice as hard as before to pick up the slack. Protecting Mytho took precedence over everything else, especially something as insignificant as his schoolwork or social life. (Besides, who needs a social life when you have Mytho?)

Much to his surprise, when he arrived at Mytho's usual napping spot he found his friend quite awake, and looking like he'd swallowed something emetic. Concern began to surge up Fakir's throat as he stepped into the clearing. Something was off.

"Mytho? What's wrong?" He didn't bother to conceal his worry as he knelt in front of his closest friend. Words fell out of his mouth faster than he could think them. "Are you feeling weak again? I told you not to leave the dormitory if you don't need to—" He cut himself off as he caught sight of Mytho's closed fist. Hesitating, he put a hand on top of it, gently prying open the clenched fingers to reveal the glittering red chunk of crystal.

All the breath left his body in one swift moment, and he felt the blood drain from his face.

"No," he said weakly.

"Someone is collecting Heart shards," Mytho said, as despair seeped into his face.

* * *

Duck caught her breath behind a long row of bushes, thankful that no one had seen her and Odette un-fuse. The feeling of being Tutu lingered in her blood for a hot second, and then vanished, making her dizzy with the withdrawal. Exhaustion crept into her bones as quickly as Tutu's power faded from her veins. It took a moment for her eyes to regain focus, and the oncoming dimness of twilight didn't exactly help. She wondered vaguely how long this feeling would last—and would it get better with each fusion, or worse? It felt so terribly lonely, now that she was just herself again.

Once she was sure she wouldn't topple over, she stood and brushed off her skirt. "That was really…" she began, but stopped once she realized she didn't have the words to describe it properly. Odette tilted her head understandingly.

 _It is quite a feeling, isn't it?_ Odette asked.

"Yeah," Duck replied with feeling. "Do you know how many more pieces there are?" Her other, unsaid question hung in the air between them: How many times will we do this again?

 _Unfortunately, I do not._ She sighed. _I do not even know how long I have been asleep._

"Really?"

 _If I knew more, I would not hesitate to tell you. I do not keep secrets._

So not even Odette herself knew her mysterious past.

"How frustrating!" Duck said, squashing her disappointment. If Odette didn't know, there was no use blaming her. "Well, how much do you know? Might as well start somewhere, right?"

There was a pause as Odette processed her question.

… _Not much,_ Odette said grimly _. I know what to do to become Princess Tutu, and how a heart shard feels. I know I am meant to aid you. Aside from that, I do not know much. I think… I think I have been asleep since the prince shattered his heart. Although my memory of that event is…different from the others._

"Different? How?"

Odette pondered for a moment, looking off into the distance through the trees. _It does not match the rest of my memories, for one. It is too dark and oddly colored. I am sorry if it doesn't make sense—memories are hard to describe in the abstract. For whatever reason, my memories are… unfortunately vague._

Both of them fell silent, the sound of the wind through the trees speaking for them as they thought.

"Well," Duck said finally, checking the ground around her to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, "I guess we should go check up on Fritz…"

He hadn't been looking good when she had left him in the infirmary. She should go into town soon and buy some potions or something—it wouldn't do to have to run him to the infirmary after every battle. Maybe she could get a little training in as well—since there was no way to tell how long before another shard would appear, she might as well spend her indefinite free time being productive.

She forced her way between the bushes and back onto the cobbled garden path (thoroughly undoing any previous progress from brushing it off). Odette followed behind, hopping the shrubbery with ease.

* * *

A million thoughts raced through Fakir's mind at once as he dashed off into the gardens in the direction Mytho had pointed out.

Who was collecting the shards?

Who even knew about the Heart in this tiny town? That's why they'd moved here, wasn't it? To have a normal life where the Heart was just the silliest of myths. Charon had agreed, too; nobody this far east of the mountains had thought seriously of the Heart for at least a century. The one time Fakir had heard someone mention it in this town was with derision. He doubted even the most eccentric scholars of this region would entertain the thought of it nowadays.

So why? Why the Heart? There were plenty of other items that did close to the same thing, if not nearly as powerful. The Heart wasn't even that valuable—outside of battle it was pretty much worthless. All it did was make a pokémon stronger, and only temporarily at that. It wasn't an evolutionary item, or even that beneficial strategically. And it wasn't even considered to be real here—why would someone chase after a fairy tale item that wasn't supposed to exist anymore?

And how? Mytho had smashed the thing years ago. And up until just a few minutes ago, Fakir would've sworn that it was sealed in various holes in a far off mountain. He'd been there when Mytho tore the gem from its gold setting, seen him use Felix to shatter it, and watched Adalwin create the barrier himself. There were only four humans this side of the mountains that knew about it—or there was _supposed_ to only be four.

His birthmark began to itch uncomfortably, which happened whenever he got anxious. And rightly so—he had no idea what would happen to Mytho if the shards were all collected. He'd probably have to restart his bodyguard training, at the very least. Charon would not be happy about this. And he would have to tell him about it too—great. Something else to dread.

The _klik-klak_ of someone walking the path ahead brought his attention back to the present, and he looked up sharply.

It was some girl—a student, one that he had maybe seen before? He didn't know immediately—and a gardevoir, walking in the same direction he was going. The girl was wobbling slightly, and it looked like the only thing keeping her right side up was a supporting hand from the gardevoir.

Could they have seen something?

"Hey, you!" he said as he caught up, making the girl jump. He recognized her once she turned; she was a student in the beginner class, the one Rue had danced with today. His eyes flicked to the gardevoir beside her—hadn't she battled with a psyduck earlier? If she had a full-grown gardevoir on her team, why hadn't she used it? He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind, reminding himself to stick with what was important.

"Y-yes?" the girl stammered, recognition flickering in her eyes. Her name came to him. Duck, or something equally odd.

"Have you seen anyone strange coming through here recently?"

The girl exchanged glances with her gardevoir. "Uh, no?" she said, uncertainly. "Why?"

Fakir wasn't sure if she was lying or just always this unsure. Either way he hoped he wouldn't have to speak to her any longer than necessary.

"Just… looking for someone," he said carefully. He was about to turn away when she spoke again.

"Hey, you're a friend of Mytho's, right?" she asked, a weird look in her eyes.

 _Ugh_ , he thought, his eyes narrowing. Another one of Mytho's fanbase. What could she want from him?

"Yeah. What about him?" he said impatiently. He didn't have time for another freshman to ask for Mytho's number, or the time to fight with her once he denied giving it.

"Is he doing okay? He always seems so exhausted after dance class, and his eyes always look so _sad_ …" she stopped, a blush rising on her face to match her ginger hair.

"He's doing fine," Fakir said brusquely. "He doesn't need anyone else worrying about him, either," he added, not bothering to read her reaction before moving on.

He had only gone a few steps when he heard her topple over onto the cobblestones.

"Stupid," he muttered, barely turning his head to see if she was seriously hurt or not. He did turn, though, when he noticed the man and woman standing over her.

The pair couldn't have been older than their mid-twenties, and both were shorter than he was. They wore odd costumes—loose black tunics over dark tights, wearing black, beaked hoods that covered their faces and fell over their chests in a feathered design. And—were those ballet shoes? He supposed they were meant to look ominous (and perhaps on other people they would be), but it just looked silly. Still, he felt uneasy. Strangers weren't normally allowed on school grounds, and especially not when dressed like _that_.

The woman laughed as Duck weakly stood. "Oh, dear, this'll be _easy_ ," she crowed to her partner. "And look—we'll get a nice gardevoir out of it, too."

The man smiled, which was off-putting, since his eyes were hidden. "Of course, it won't be any fun, beating a pair of kids," he said. "But the boss didn't tell us to have fun."

Fakir reached into his pocket and pulled out Asim's pokéball. You didn't have to be a genius to tell these two wanted trouble.

"What do you want?" Duck asked, suspicious. Fakir glanced at her. If what he'd seen of her skills earlier that day was any sign, he and Asim would probably have to battle these two on their own. It was a shame he'd left Mas'ud and Na'ima in the dorm—he'd rather have a full team when handling a new opponent.

"Oh, nothing much, at the moment," the woman replied. "Just your pokémon."

* * *

At that, the pair summoned their own pokémon—Duck found herself staring down the beaks of two murkrows, their eyes glinting with cruel excitement. She backed up quickly, bumping into Fakir in the process.

"Sorry," she said, as he opened his own pokéball. He gave her an irritated look.

"If you think I'll let you have Asim, you're seriously delusional," Fakir scoffed, focusing back on the strange couple.

His lucario appeared beside Odette, turning to exchange looks with his trainer. Duck had seen the lucario in dance class a time or two, but never this close.

Warily, Duck looked at Odette. If _she_ still felt this weak and dizzy after fusing as Tutu, how was Odette holding up? And they still needed to get back to the infirmary and check on Fritz. Had he woken up yet?

 _Do not worry, Duck,_ Odette said. _I am more than strong enough to handle this._

Duck nodded; she was more worried that she would fall over again. Her legs felt like they were about to give out, and making more of a fool of herself was the last thing she wanted.

"Go on and move first, kiddies," the woman said. "It won't make any difference."

Fakir wasted no time. "Asim, use power-up punch."

"Go for it, Odette," Duck said, lowering her voice a little on the hope that Fakir wouldn't catch the name.

Duck's human senses weren't nearly as sharp as they had been as Tutu, or even as a ducklett, but she could still feel the excitement building in Asim as he charged into the battle. Even Fakir seemed to be buzzing with energy now, albeit a much lower, quieter burn than Asim's. Odette sent a quick wave of comforting thoughts her way, before sending a torrent of flower petals blasting towards her enemy.

The strangers responded in kind, and soon the battle was in full swing.

Duck found this battle much easier than the previous one—mainly because she didn't have to dance at the same time. It didn't hurt that she also knew the extent of Odette's moveset, due to their fusion. Asim didn't seem to have any trouble fighting either, despite the type disadvantage.

To their credit, the two murkrow put up a good fight—they even managed to land a couple of critical hits on Odette and Asim (not that they did much damage). But Asim's punches were fast, accurate, and looked pretty painful. Due to the type matchups, everyone had at least one disadvantage—Odette seemed to be at the most risk, given how much energy she had already expended today. However, it looked like they had experience on their side—Duck knew Odette had a lot of experience, much more than either of the murkrows.

After a few minutes of fighting, Asim had already beaten his opponent, and Odette delivered the final psychic blow to her own. The defeated murkrow were splayed on the ground in oddly comical positions, and their trainers looked a lot less assured than when they had first appeared.

"Hmph," the woman said, recovering a little of her pride as she summoned her murkrow back to its pokéball. "You've won the right to keep your pokémon for a little while longer. Don't let it get to your heads."

"Team Raven won't be stopped by a couple of school kids," her partner said as he did the same. "One of our brethren is sure to humble y—"

"Oh, shut up," Fakir interrupted crossly. "Get out of here already—or do I need to beat _you_ up as well?" Asim looked at them pointedly.

The two of them scowled, but nonetheless turned and left. Fakir and Asim watched their retreat.

"We should follow them," Fakir said to Asim. He hated not knowing who was collecting heart shards, but making sure those goons weren't still on campus and terrorizing other students (or, heaven forbid, Mytho) was more of a priority at the moment. They could check up on Mytho when they'd made sure the campus was weirdo-free.

Asim nodded, and the two of them stalked off behind the strangers.

Duck and Odette were left standing alone again, much to their relief. Duck waited until Fakir and Asim were out of earshot to speak.

"I'm sorry!" Duck said, turning to Odette. "I know I'm not supposed to let anyone know you're here—I probably just blew our cover…"

 _It is okay, Duck. There are some things we cannot control, and I think that Fakir is one of them._ She offered a reassuring smile, which Duck tried to return. She did feel a little better, though.

"So much happening in one day," she said tiredly. "Are you okay? You've used a lot of energy recently."

 _I am fine_ , Odette replied. _I could make use of the infirmary, though_.

Duck nodded. "We need to pick up Fritz anyway." She fumbled in her pockets for Odette's pokéball, returning her to it silently. She felt odd as she placed the ball back into the pocket of her dress, but paid it no mind.

She turned in the direction of the infirmary, and before she could even take another step, the world went fuzzy, then dark.

Duck opened her eyes, the feeling of cold stone against her beak becoming unbearable. She touched it delicately with a wingtip, making sure it wasn't bruised.

She paused. Wait a second. Beak? Wingtip? Was she—?

"Wha—?" she quacked incredulously, sitting up, and then immediately felt her heart sink. Somehow, she was a ducklett again, and she didn't have time to figure out how.

"Oh no…" she groaned.

Had she passed out? There was a vague memory of her legs and head feeling funny, and then…nothing. But even then, why was she back to being a ducklett? She had assumed that once she'd begun her quest she would stay human—no one had ever said anything about reverting back. And how could she get back to her human form? There was still a quest to complete.

She stood clumsily, looking around herself. Thankfully, her pendant still hung from her neck. Her clothes were in a pile around her, as well as Odette's pokéball. She scrabbled for the ball, trying to depress the button with her beak and wings, but to no avail. Maybe pokémon couldn't open other pokémon's balls? Or maybe she was just doing it wrong; it was hard to tell without thumbs, or even hands. She sighed, and then quickly rustled her clothes and the pokéball into a makeshift bundle, which she tied around herself, and then set off in the direction of the infirmary.

It was hard to walk, since she had quickly gotten used to being in a human body. Now she had to remind herself how to step so that her webbed feet didn't slap against each other as she walked.

The change in perspective was a little daunting, too. Not that she'd been all that tall as a human girl, but now it was just ridiculous. Everything was so much bigger, and just far enough apart to remind her how much more ground her longer, human legs would cover. If only she could fly—but she'd never really learned, and so she was stuck on the ground, _pit-patt_ ing her way to the infirmary.

Maybe Fritz would have an idea of what to do.

* * *

Fritz himself sat outside the infirmary, thinking over his options. Duck hadn't come to get him yet, so he had checked himself out (rather, he had just walked out while the nurse was in the back). Now he could either head to Duck's dorm, try to find Duck herself, or just go get something to eat from the cafeteria. His stomach wanted the third option, but he was just worried enough to forgo that and attempt to find her on his own. It was unusual for Duck to leave him alone like this. In fact, in the two weeks or so he had known her, they hadn't been apart for more than half an hour.

Something was up.

Had she finally progressed in her mission? He wasn't sure, but it was the only thing he could think of that would make her stay away for so long. Well, the only positive thing.

He waddled down the hallway, eager to get away from the harsh smells of the infirmary. He caught a glimpse of the setting sun through the window as he turned a corner—

—And bumped into something going the opposite way, and fell back.

"Oof!" it said, as Fritz rubbed the spot where they had collided.

Startled, he looked up and locked eyes with a tiny ducklett, barely a foot and a quarter tall, a bundle tied around her neck—and wearing a blood red pendant.

"Duck?" he asked incredulously.

"Fritz!" she replied, relieved. She put her wings on her hips (which wouldn't have looked any more dignified as a human) and gave him a pointed look, exasperated.

"Now do you believe me?"

* * *

"Just a few more volts," Edel muttered to herself, fiddling with the dials on her Van de Graaff generator. She was aiming to create her own thunderstone in the lab—and potentially make a cheaper, mass-produced version to relieve the stress on those mining for the stones. Mining for evolutionary stones wasn't a safe or renewable resource, especially not anywhere near Kinkan town. The closest mine was a good hundred miles away, making evolutionary stones much more expensive here than elsewhere.

Many other scientists were working on similar projects, but Edel had a feeling that she was close to cracking the problem. Beryl was a great aid in the experiments, being able to tell her if the stones she was creating felt anything like the power stored within the real thunderstones.

Of course, she wouldn't stop at thunderstones. Leafstones and waterstones were her next goals, although they seemed like they might be a little more difficult. Eventually she planned to understand and artificially create every type of evolutionary item—it was her life dream, ever since she had received her first moonstone.

The thunderstone experiments were getting close, too—Beryl had deemed the last one only a little too weak, so this next batch should have at least one stone that works. Excitement rolled in the back of her stomach, a low energy that had been boiling for the past few days as she grew closer and closer to making her first artificial thunderstone.

A draft blew through the basement, making her fingers grow cold. She absently rubbed warmth into them as she watched the dial creep towards the intended range.

It was well past ten at night now, and Uzura and Beryl were both asleep (Beryl would check this newest batch of stones in the morning). Edel's third mug of coffee sat at her elbow, which she nursed in between experiments. Her notebook lay open on the table to her right, pen ready to take notes in her small, cramped script. She'd filled dozens of notebooks already, and they all sat next to her computer, ready to be digitalized and turned into a proper scientific article once she succeeded in her task. She didn't have the funding to get one of those fancy PDAs, or even a better computer. Instead, she was stuck with her rather large clunker that struggled to connect to the internet, let alone run complex programs. But she was grateful—she had her collection, and her intelligence, and her family. The gadgets could fall by the wayside, as long as she had those.

The draft came again, a little colder this time, and brought with it little tendrils of smoke that stayed in the shadows, where Edel didn't notice them. Unbeknownst to her, the smoke began to gather in the corners and along the walls and across the ceiling overhead, where it lingered. The tendrils came together at the same speed as the dial, forming a sphere that hovered ghostlike in the air. A few moments passed, and the shape suddenly shifted, contracting and then expanding—

—Until it finally caught her attention.

A few things happened in quick succession. First, the smoke stopped moving, and then dispersed altogether in a small _poof_ , revealing a pair of staring eyes and a large, toothy grin, and a rather disconcerting pair of detached hands. Edel looked up.

"Hello, my dear Edel."

Edel gasped, jerking backwards and up out of her chair, knocking the coffee mug off the table and shattering it on the floor in the process.

"Oh dear, I didn't think you'd be this startled. Although I supposed I should have expected that…" the specter said, looking down at the mess.

"What the he—" Edel began, partially regaining her composure.

"I'm sorry to barge in during your fine experiments, Professor Edel," he interrupted. "But I thought it was time for the two of us to finally meet."

Something clicked into place, and Edel realized who she was looking at.

"So you're the one who turned Duck human," she said, glaring suspiciously at him.

"Am I?" he asked, rubbing his chin with one hand. The specter's hands were almost comically cartoonish—they were large and gloved, and moved cunningly through the air despite not being attached to anything. "I guess you could say that. Although it's not really my power that she's using, is it? But, for all intents and purposes, I am the author of this story, yes."

As troubling as his words were, Edel's composure had returned by now, and she fixed her visitor with a steely look. "Then I have some questions for you."

He waved his hands in a dismissive gesture. "Of course, dear Professor. But be aware, I have something to ask of you as well."

* * *

A little while later, Edel sat pensively in her chair, arms stiffly resting on the desk. The Van de Graaff machine was turned off, the almost-thunderstones she had been working on sat neglected.

In front of her hovered her guest. He was posed as if sitting, although he was floating several feet off the ground. In his hands he held a teacup, filled precariously with Edel's most expensive tea blend. She eyed him warily, lingering a moment on the tea he was certainly not drinking.

"First of all," she began, "Who are you?"

"What a cliché question, Edel—I'm disappointed," He said, and finally took a sip from his teacup. "If only to make you move on, I'll tell you."

He took great interest in placing the cup on the saucer just so before continuing, by which point Edel was quickly losing patience.

"When I was alive, I was called Professor Drosselmeyer," he said finally, and Edel felt suddenly chilly (well, chilli _er_ ). "But after dying, I decided that being an author suited me better. Don't you agree? I have quite a marvelous story in progress."

The fog at the edges of the room swirled slowly, even as the dial on the Van de Graaff machine and the hands on Edel's clock sat deathly still. Not that she had time to notice any of that—all of her attention was focused on Drosselmeyer and her racing thoughts.

"Is that so," she said, fingers slowly wrapping around her pen. She doubted it'd work as a weapon, but just holding it made her feel a little better.

Drosselmeyer leisurely sipped his tea. "I don't see any reason for you to doubt me, dear Edel, but that's unimportant. Duck is in need of your help, you see."

Worry rose in her throat like bile, and she swallowed vainly to dispel it.

"How so?" she asked, voice wavering slightly.

"Oh, don't worry about her _too_ much. She's a smart girl—or should I say pokémon?" He chuckled to himself. "Either way, she isn't in much danger at the moment. Rather, she has found herself at a bit of an impasse."

His hands flourished in midair, and between his gloved palms the smoke shimmered and then dissipated, replaced by an image of Duck—but not the human girl Edel had met only a few weeks previously. This was her ducklett form, wearing the unmistakable red pendant. The image shifted, and Edel realized she was watching Duck in real time as she walked through the streets of Kinkan Town.

"She's reverted to her previous form?" she murmured, worried eyes fixed to Duck's image. Curiosity tempered her uneasiness a little, and she relaxed her grip on the pen.

"Indeed," Drosselmeyer said, snapping his hands together and dispelling the image. "It seems that when she is too weak to sustain the illusion, she returns to being a little ducklett. And honestly," he added, waving his hands in a nonchalant shrug, "I have no idea how to get her back to being a human."

"No—?" Edel started, grip tightening again. "Aren't you the one who gave her the pendant? How do you not know?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I know it's possible to return her to human form—I'm the author, and nothing happens without my say-so, you know—it's just that in this case, I don't know exactly _how_ it will happen. It's the same reason I brought a ducklett into the story in the first place—sometimes you just have to believe that the characters will do what they're supposed to. And that's where you come in, Edel."

Edel gave him a thorny glare, crossing her arms. This author and character talk was absolutely grating on her nerves.

"You are a scientist, are you not?" he asked, exasperated and defensive. "You are the perfect character to unlock a few secrets from the pendant—not too many, mind. That'd ruin the surprise," he said. "And believe me, you'll both be well rewarded for it. Duck will get to move on to the next part of her journey, and you…well, we can work something out now, can't we?"

"I'm sure," she said gruffly.

"She'll see you sometime in the next few hours, depending on how fast she and her friend can waddle here. Of course, you must keep this little meeting a secret. It's improper for an author to have his plans known—ruins the plot and my reputation."

Edel scoffed. "And why should I do anything you say?"

Drosselmeyer's eyes narrowed slightly, but after a second he lifted the corners of his mouth into a foreboding grin. "Oh, my dear," he replied, and waved a hand, "You don't have to do anything. But let's just say it would be in your best interest to take this initiative."

At the word "interest", another image appeared above his palm—Uzura, sleeping calmly in her bed. Edel felt her heart shoot into her throat.

After a tense moment, she nodded.

"I'll do it," she said, words hard to force out.

"Good," Drosselmeyer drawled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

And with that, he wrapped his cape dramatically around himself and was gone, taking the cold and fog with him.

* * *

Finally, Duck was readjusted to her natural form. It was a little troubling, though, since the easier being a ducklett became, the less likely it felt like she'd return to being human. If she was a ducklett, she couldn't be Princess Tutu, and then her whole quest would be a bust. Anxiety writhed in the pit of her stomach at the thought.

But she couldn't keep moping, she decided. There had to be a way to get back to being a human girl. The pendant rested on her chest, a reminder of what she could be, what she needed to be.

"Do you have any ideas?" she asked Fritz, who had sat beside her and listened to her account of the last few hours with his usual attentiveness.

He shook his head, and Duck sighed. After spending a few moments trying to come up with something herself, she perked up and pushed herself off the ground. Her clothes bundle slipped down a little, and she nudged it back into place.

"Well, I think I might have something," she said brightly. "You're not the only one who knows about my, uh… condition… Anyway, I know someone who might be able to help!"

* * *

Oddly, Edel wasn't very surprised when she found the two pokémon at her doorstep in the early morning (even though she attempted to act like she was). She welcomed them in with a strange look on her face, and ushered them down to her basement lab.

"Unfortunately, I don't have your gift for talking to pokémon, Duck," Edel said lightly as she picked them both up and set them on her worktable. "And Beryl can't be of much help either, although I'm sure he's happy to see you." She helped Duck untie the bundle of clothes from around her shoulders.

Beryl himself was standing precariously on a stool next to the worktable, peering at them with a lopsided grin. "Didn't think I'd see you so soon, Tiny," he said.

Duck shrugged, which looked funny in her natural form. "It was the only thing I could think of." She didn't mind the nickname, mostly because she knew Beryl didn't mean anything by it.

"And I do hope you'll introduce your new friend and me once you're back to normal, right?" she asked, motioning to Fritz. Duck nodded emphatically.

"Good. Now, I'm just going to take off your pendant—is that okay? I'd like to examine it some."

Duck nodded again, and lowered her head so that Edel could remove the necklace. Edel then put on her eyepiece, flicking the magnifying lenses down one by one as she inspected the red stone.

"Oh, do make yourselves at home," she insisted, pausing from her work. "I have no idea how long this will take, so you might as well rest up. I think Uzura will wake up soon."

Fritz and Duck followed Beryl back upstairs, and Duck proceeded to give a detailed account of the past few weeks, at Beryl's behest. He listened intently, and she was nearly finished with her recounting when the door to Uzura's room creaked open.

Beryl gave a lopsided grin. "This ought to be fun," he said quietly.


	6. A Long Night Breeds Apologies

Darkness surrounded Edel like a smothering blanket, held off only by the small light of her desk lamp. She clutched Duck's pendant tensely as she examined and tested it with every piece of machinery she could think of.

It had been several hours since her meeting Drosselmeyer and Duck's appearance, and yet she still shook occasionally. Even as she turned over every possibility with the pendant, one part of her mind replayed the scene over and over. What had Drosselmeyer _done_ to himself? To Duck? What was his plan with her—with all of them? Just what power did this dead man have?

Edel herself knew a little of his life, thanks to college and her professors' extensive personal libraries. Drosselmeyer had lived a little over two centuries prior, and was widely unknown—up until he was suddenly defunded, banned from all official laboratories and research centers, and very nearly arrested. No one knew why, though; a public statement about his career's abrupt end was never made. (Edel _did_ know, however, that Drosselmeyer had only escaped arrest by bribing several people.)

And then he had just vanished. The police looked for him, of course, but even when they found his secret laboratory abandoned deep in the woods they couldn't turn up a hint of a body. After several years with no clue as to his whereabouts, he was assumed dead, and life went on as normal. The only thing they did find was his will, which named the officers he'd bribed to escape imprisonment—one final jab at the system that ended his career.

It wasn't a great sign for her prospects.

There was no telling why or how he'd managed to live for two whole centuries, or why he now looked so monstrous. Edel assumed it had something to do with the reason for his arrest, and that somehow it enabled him to survive for such an absurdly long amount of time.

It hadn't seemed to make him any saner, though. Talking of authors and fate and stories as if he was somehow omniscient. By Arceus, the man had certainly lost all semblance of sanity by now.

No amount of coffee could soothe her anxiety, and she had a gut feeling sleep would escape her for a while. So, with churning stomach and racing mind, she turned her attention back to the pendant.

It was small, no more than an inch in diameter, and oval, and a red richer than any jewel Edel had ever seen. It was set in simple silver, just enough to secure the bail to the pendant. Small notches and scratches on the sides suggested that it had been part of a larger piece of jewelry—which was contested by the bail attached to the back, which would likely have been out of place if the pendant had been a segment of something more complex. Maybe the bail had been added after the stone was removed?

The setting was hardly the most interesting thing about it. As Edel ran the stone through multiple tests, she found it had a few notable qualities. Firstly, it was hard as diamond, or near to it—none of her tools even came close to scratching it (she didn't have the luxury of diamond-tipped tools just yet). Secondly, it vibrated at a slightly higher frequency than similar materials, which many evolutionary stones did. Lastly (and the most frustratingly), there was no indication as to why or how it allowed Duck to turn human. (Although, it should be noted that most evolutionary items didn't always have explanations for how or why they worked; they just _did_ , and both scientists and the general public as a fact of nature accepted it without much question. Edel found that way of thinking deplorable—there was so much to learn about both pokémon and the world, if only they could unlock some of the secrets hiding right in front of them.)

There were a few better-equipped labs that could run diagnostics on it, but none that she trusted to handle it carefully (let alone any that were open and available at this time of day). She wasn't sure there was a way she could even ask them without sounding somewhat suspicious.

With all other ideas tried and failed, Edel decided to open her encyclopedia of pokémon-related items. It wasn't an exhaustive source (there were several Alolan items missing from this older edition), but it did have the helpful quality of listing all entries in the index by name, color, function, and age discovered. She began by searching the section of the index titled "RED." (She had to start somewhere, right?)

Edel spent about an hour scouring the encyclopedia for anything resembling the pendant, with no results. Granted, by this time it was well past dawn, and she had neither eaten nor slept since well before Drosselmeyer's surprise visit. And the encyclopedia wasn't foolproof. It had been a stretch to think it'd be there at all.

She once again wished that she had a computer with an internet connection. It would have to wait—her work budget was strict and not to be trifled with. Once she landed that grant from the Devon Corporation in Hoenn, she could buy whatever tools and equipment she needed.

For now, she just needed to find a gentle way to tell Duck she'd found nothing.

* * *

"Whoa, strangers-zura!" Uzura exclaimed, sleep disappearing from her face instantly. She toddled into the living room and straight towards Duck, who, unaware of the poking and prodding that would follow, turned and welcomed her with open wings.

"Uzura? What are you doing up? Is it morning already?" Duck quacked, momentarily forgetting her current state. She'd been talking with Fritz and Beryl for so long it was starting to feel normal to be a pokémon again. It only took Uzura's blank look to remind Duck of her current predicament. Oh well. Not like either of them was much of a conversationalist anyway.

Before, Uzura had barely come up past her knees, and now Duck was growing quite irritated with the switch. Uzura herself didn't ease that irritation much, given how poking and prodding Duck seemed to be her new favorite activity. Beryl made a face that told her this happened quite often, and Fritz just looked like he was glad to have evaded the toddler's attention.

As Uzura's small child hands ruffled her feathers, Duck discovered she was ticklish.

"Beryl, help meee," she wheezed in between squawking giggles.

Feeling magnanimous, Beryl swooped in and picked up Uzura lightly (which was almost impressive, considering they were practically the same height), giving Duck the opportunity to scramble to the top of the kitchen table and out of Uzura's reach.

"C'mon, you egg," Beryl grunted, carrying Uzura deftly back to her bedroom. "It's way too early for you to be awake. Give it a few more hours, kid."

Uzura got the gist, and pouted all the way back to her bed. "But I wanna play-zura," she whined, already yawning.

Still atop the kitchen table, Duck let out a sigh of relief and began preening herself out of habit. It was kind of relaxing to be able to do this again (although she'd found out that as a human, brushing her hair had nearly the same effect). The feel of her beak scraping through her feathers was nostalgic and comforting, especially given how tired she was right now.

But she had work to do, and she had to be human to do it. She wasn't going to get anywhere if she stayed like this.

For what must have been the thirtieth time in the past few hours, Duck mentally went over everything the monster had told her so far. Had he mentioned how to turn back? She couldn't for the life of her remember.

She desperately wanted to, but it was well past midnight now and the exhaustion was finally kicking in. Sleep soon claimed her.

* * *

A few hours later, Edel was surprised to find all three pokémon asleep in the kitchen—Duck curled up on the table, Fritz on a chair next to her, and Beryl on the floor underneath it. She smiled blearily at the three of them, deciding to get in a few winks herself. She poked her head into Uzura's room, sighing a little when she thought of how likely it was that her daughter would inherit her mother's irregular sleep schedule. Maybe Uzura would grow out of it?

If Edel hadn't been exhausted, it would have been nearly impossible for her to sleep. The memory of Drosselmeyer's icy presence and the questions that followed were kept at bay only by the fact that her body was ready to give in to sleep as soon as she laid her head on her pillow.

Sleep only lasted for a few hours, however. The sun streaming through her bedroom window was as good as any alarm clock, and Edel rose to greet the day in her normal tired fashion.

She loathed waking Duck and the others this early, but an anxious weight in her stomach told her that time was not something to be wasted right now. As a compromise, she settled for gently shaking them awake.

* * *

Duck woke from her dream of her pond to see Edel standing above her, a concerned look on her face. It was contagious, and soon Duck felt the familiar tightness of anxiety in her gut and chest. Was something wrong? Would she be unable to become human again? Had she messed it all up somehow? She wouldn't be surprised to find out she had.

Not a great feeling to wake up to.

Fritz sat up drowsily and yawned, and Duck wished she could be as unaffected by all this as he was. (Or maybe she only imagined he was—it was hard to be sure, really.)

Edel gave the bad news softly, her arms crossed in a protective gesture.

"I'm sorry, Duck—I'm afraid I won't be able to tell much of anything about your pendant until the tests come back from my colleague's lab, and that could take a few weeks. Until then, it's best if you hold onto it."

The pendant dangled for a moment from Edel's hand as Duck tried to swallow her disappointment. If Edel couldn't figure it out, how was she ever going to be human again? Was her quest to be ended so suddenly?

No. She couldn't give up just yet. There had to be another way. Determination sprang from somewhere deep inside her, and she looked at the jewel with renewed hope. She could figure this out— _would_ figure it out.

The pendant felt warm and heavy against her chest.

"It's all right," she quacked, trying extra hard to get her message across with an encouraging smile. Edel understood it just fine, and gave her own soft smile back.

"How about a bath and some breakfast?"

Both Duck and Beryl noticed how Edel seemed a little uneasy, and that she was trying to mask it with positivity. Neither said anything about it, however, as they waddled to the bathroom at the back of the cottage.

The bathroom, which was just as clean and small as the rest of the house, was quickly filled to capacity as Uzura tried to squeeze in alongside Edel and Duck.

"Beryl, can you watch Uzura out in the front room please? Duck doesn't need everyone crowding her as she takes a bath," Edel said, turning the faucet. "I'll get started on breakfast while you clean yourself up."

"Thanks," Duck quacked as Edel left her alone in the bathroom.

It'd been a while since she swam. And it was such a cute little bathroom! The lavender tiled walls were painted with tiny roses and white patterns, and a clouded high window let in the soft morning light. The bathtub was already filled with warm, inviting water, and Duck couldn't help but sigh as she floated atop it.

-And then, suddenly, she was no longer floating.

With a splash, she spluttered and sat up, wiping wet hair from her eyes.

"Wha—?! I'm back!"

Through the door she heard the sound of Edel suddenly dropping a pan with a _clunk_ , then footsteps approaching the door of the bathroom.

"Duck? Are you all right? It sounded like you—"

"Ms. Edel, I'm back!" she interrupted, almost laughing with joy.

* * *

By the time Duck finished her bath Edel had cooked breakfast, and the four of them sat down to a large pot of oatmeal and fresh berries. Both she and Fritz dug in—she realized she hadn't eaten anything in ages, and she had a hunch that transforming took a lot of energy.

Uzura finished first, and Beryl walked her to her room to get dressed while Duck and Edel talked.

"So, what's been going on with you, Duck?" Edel asked as she stood to clear the table once they had all had their fill. "Oh, don't get up, dear, you're a guest. Instead, you just tell me what's been going on."

"Oh, there's so much that's happened," Duck replied. "I barely know where to start."

"Let's start with your friend here."

Fritz looked up from his seat beside Duck, where he'd been playing with his now empty bowl.

"Oh! This is Fritz. We met in town."

Edel inclined her head politely. "Nice to meet you, Fritz."

Fritz nodded in kind.

"Well, how did it go in town? Did you find your Prince fellow?"

"Yeah, I did! It was actually really lucky that I did so fast, since I wasn't sure if he was even at the Academy or not. But Pique and Lilie said that they knew who I was talking about when I asked them—and they helped me get enrolled into the Academy, too! And when I was signing up for classes there they asked me what department I wanted to be in but I wasn't entirely sure, so I just went with my gut and chose the dance department, and I was right!"

"So you're going to school at the Academy, too?" Edel asked, slightly amused. She wondered what the faculty and school board would think if they knew a pokémon was enrolled. "I'm glad you've settled in. And these Pique and Lilie, they're your friends?"

"Yeah! I met them the first day in town, right after I met Fritz. They can be kinda… intense… sometimes, but they're nice people. And they did help me figure out who the Prince was."

"Who is he?"

Duck hesitated a moment, the monster's warning echoing in her head. Was it okay to tell Edel everything like this? But then, Edel already knew what she was. Surely it was fine.

"He's a student at the Academy named Mytho. He's a year above me, and he's in the advanced class in the dance department. He's really cool—everyone in school loves him. I could see him being a real, actual prince. Actually, he might really be royalty… I'm not sure."

"Possibly," Edel mused. "Although all of the old noble families have either died out or lost all power by now."

Duck shook her head, trying to get back on track. "Anyway, I—," she stopped, digging around in the pocket of her uniform. "I have something else to show you."

She held out Odette's pokéball. "The monster came again, right after I started school. He gave me this."

She thumbed the catch, and Odette appeared gracefully beside her chair.

 _Duck? Why did you summon me?_ Odette asked, confused. Then she saw Edel, and fell silent.

The air was suddenly tense, and Duck glanced bewildered between them.

"So you're another gift from Drosselmeyer," Edel said quietly, studying Odette with worried eyes.

"Drosselmeyer?" Duck echoed, confused.

"The monster." Her brow creased, and Duck recognized the expression—it was the look she'd had when they arrived on her doorstep last night.

What could make Edel—the most steadfast grownup she knew—look so apprehensive? Just thinking about it made her uneasy.

 _I suppose "gift" would be an appropriate term_ , _though I do not like it_ , Odette said, breaking the silence.

Duck could tell from the look on Edel's face that she'd heard her too.

"She's the reason I was turned into a human," Duck said, trying to ease the tension. "Odette senses the heart shards, and then we fuse into Princess Tutu, and then she's super powerful—Princess Tutu, I mean, but Odette is too—and she can defeat anyone who's got a heart shard, even though it makes pokémon like, crazy strong!"

"'Heart shards'?"

"Yeah. They're little chunks of this gemstone that belong to Mytho—to the prince. I'm not sure if they're actually his physical heart or what, but this girl Anterina from school used it and it made her heatmor get _really_ strong. After she gave it to Princess Tutu it calmed down, though."

Edel would have been intrigued by Duck's use of pronouns if she hadn't realized just what Duck was describing.

"You mean the Heart is real?" Edel stared off into space a moment, stunned, then immediately tried to recall what she knew about it. "And it's in pieces?"

"Real? What do you mean?"

"There's a legend—well, more like a myth, really—about a jewel that could boost a pokémon's stats exponentially in battle, almost like a key stone for mega evolution. According to the legend, it could make even a simple magikarp into a formidable opponent. But it disappeared more than a century ago, and eventually people stopped believing it was real. It was called the Heart of Kings."

Odette's voice broke the silence once again.

 _I can assure you, the Heart is real. I was there for its creation._

Edel had to stop herself from gaping, even as she began to piece a theory together. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

"That's… What else do you know about it? Is it really as powerful as the legends say?" She was eager to grill Odette for more, but Duck quickly stepped in.

"U-uh, that won't really help," she said. "Odette's memory isn't very good right now."

Odette inclined her head in apology.

 _I am sorry I cannot be of more help. All I can remember is what I—we—have to do._

"It's all right," said Edel. "Just keep Duck safe."

 _Of course._ She turned to Duck. _I think I should rest now_.

There was another silence once Odette returned to her pokéball, but try as she might Duck was unsure how to break it. It seemed that Edel sensed it too, and thankfully she had an idea in mind already—she headed into bedroom to find something, already talking as she went.

"That reminds me, Duck—have you battled with Fritz yet?"

"Uh… Kinda. It didn't go well."

Edel reappeared from behind her bedroom door, holding something small and red.

It wasn't until Edel had handed it over that Duck realized what it was: a pokedex (a small, slightly outdated model, but it wasn't like Duck could tell).

"This should help, at least a little."

Duck's mouth opened in a little excited circle as she turned the pokedex over and over in her hands and inspected it from every angle.

"Oh, thank you, Ms. Edel!"

She found the power button, grinning a little as the machine sputtered to life.

"But… I haven't caught any pokémon," she said, and turned it back off. "And I doubt I'd be very good at it."

Edel waved her hand, dismissing the idea.

"Oh, I wouldn't ask you to try and catch all of them. That would be ridiculous. This is already registered for almost all of the pokémon you'd encounter in this region—equipped with each species' stats and type. I suggest you study as much of it as you can before you start battling with Fritz."

That thought reminded her—the school-wide tournament started today.

Hastily, she stood, looking in alarm at the clock above the fireplace. It was half past six already. She did a rough mental calculation of how long it would take to get back to town, and the result made her groan in frustration.

"Oh, darn it! Sorry, Ms. Edel, we gotta go right now!"

* * *

The early morning sunlight shone brightly, catching on anything and everything and turning the school grounds into a blinding mass of light. It pained Rue to look at it for too long—she'd always been sensitive to light, and the early morning reflections were the harshest.

It did make her look great, though. So the morning had its perks.

"Rue!" A familiar voice called her name, and she turned. What was it now?

Surprisingly, it was Anterina, doubled over and panting a little, as if she'd run all the way across campus. Rue hadn't expected to even see her again after yesterday—usually Anterina skulked after being scolded by Mr. Katze and skipped class.

She looked determined. Had she come for another battle?

"What is it? I haven't got all day." Class was going to start soon.

"I've come to apologize," Anterina said, straightening.

Rue blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected anything like this today. Of course, she deserved an apology after the drama Anterina had caused. But she hadn't thought it would ever happen.

"Oh?"

"It was wrong of me to try and break up you and Mytho, and to use him to battle you like that. And it—it was wrong of me to hate you. I'm sorry."

Rue stared, face carefully expressionless. "I see. Thank you for the apology." She knew the words came out a little terse, but what was she to do? She'd thought Anterina would only apologize if forced by Mr. Katze—not that she'd willingly walk up to her and do it. While looking her in the eye, no less.

Either Anterina didn't notice her forced tone, or she just didn't care. Either way she smiled in relief, standing tall. "Thank you, Rue. See you later?"

But Rue had already turned away.

* * *

Mytho sat in the gardens alone for the second time in as many days, and he felt absolutely miserable. After their conversation last night, Fakir had returned with the bad news—they still had no idea who was collecting the Heart, or who could possibly have the pieces. The only clue they had was that it was a girl, maybe someone around their age. Other than that, they knew nothing.

And here he was, without even Rue to comfort and distract him from this new reality… but she was probably still mad about the battle. He would have to find her later and explain.

Not a conversation to look forward to, no matter how much they needed it.

But, no. What made him the most miserable, what baffled and bemused him to the point of exhaustion was the fact that for the first time in years he didn't feel quite as empty. It scared him, knowing that even after all this time, the Heart still felt like a piece of himself, still had some hold on his soul. How could it calm him like this just to have it in his pocket once again—and with only a piece of it, at that?

He didn't physically feel any better, not really—he'd always had the aches and pains, the occasional bout of nausea. It was just something he'd come to live with (and worrying about it had only ever made it worse, so he gave up on it a long time ago). Being sickly wasn't his issue here.

No, the Heart had an emotional effect on him. It felt _right_ in his palm, and that terrified him.

He'd smashed that thing years ago. He'd been free of it, free of guarding this monstrous magnet of greed that had only brought his family and countless others misery and tragedy. It was supposed to have left his life forever. His and Fakir's and Rue's and everyone else's.

But here it was. It was back, and it was once again threatening to overshadow the happy life he'd made for himself in Kinkan.

As he mulled these thoughts over, another worry emerged, and this one scared him even more.

Once the Heart was back completely…

Could he make himself destroy it again?

The shard sat in his palm, heavy and uncaring.

* * *

It was a marvelously sunny day, all clear blue skies and warmth, but Duck was too exhausted to enjoy any of it. She and Fritz had run almost all the way back from Edel's cottage (they wouldn't have had to run had they not been stopped by the gatekeeper), and with that added to the excitement of the previous day, Duck all but forced herself to go to class.

And even when she got there, she found it nearly impossible not to fall asleep. She desperately enlisted Pique and Lilie's help in keeping her awake, with mixed results.

"Should I poke you or something?" Pique asked, noting the dark circles under Duck's eyes.

"Oh, but Duck's so cute when she's sleeping through class!" Lilie cooed in protest. "And the look Mr. Katze gives her when she's caught is just _sublime_."

"Yeah, just a poke or something to wake me up," Duck said. "And I _can't_ sleep through class, especially not on the day of the tournament." She paused. "That _is_ today, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Pique replied. "Hey, why were you up so late last night anyway? Didn't you get any sleep?"

"I just… I had a lot on my mind last night." Again, a (rather large) part of her wanted to tell them everything, to get their feedback on the situation, but Drosselmeyer's warning weighed heavy on her mind, and she kept silent.

Lilie grinned conspiratorially and leaned in close. "Thinking about Mytho, are we?"

Duck had never been so grateful to hear Mr. Katze begin a lecture as she was right then.

* * *

After lunch, the entire student body was herded into the courtyard, which had been set up with a short wooden stage. On this stage was an equally short, pear-shaped woman Duck had never seen before.

"That's Headmistress Ebner," Pique whispered to Duck as an assistant handed the woman a microphone.

"Hello, students!" the Headmistress began. "It's my honor and joy to welcome you to the opening ceremony of our 45th annual school-wide tournament!"

The crowd of students gave a round of applause ranging from begrudging politeness to emphatic enthusiasm. Pique and Lilie were on the more energetic end of the spectrum. They'd been looking forward to this for months.

Duck caught sight of Mytho and Rue in the crowd, clapping politely. She wondered if they had patched things up—she'd seen the way Mytho's face fell after the battle in class yesterday. If only she could become Princess Tutu right now and soothe his heart like she had Anterina's. A little ways off from the pair was Fakir, arms folded.

The headmistress went on to explain the rules, and Duck did her best to try and listen. There apparently were three categories—single, double, and contests—and students could only sign up for one category each (the categories had their own rules as to how many pokémon per trainer could compete). The categories were then divided by grade level, so that the more inexperienced younger students would have a better chance. At the end of the tournament, the best trainers from each grade would compete to win the title for the entire school in their category.

"I'm sure you all know by now that you will get extra credit in your Pokémon Studies classes for participating—but as further incentive, here's a look at what the medal winners will receive!"

The assistant gestured to a table on the side of the stage, which held more than a dozen baskets of varying shapes and sizes. The smallest were a few inches tall and held only one or two items, while the biggest was almost a foot in every dimension, and stuffed to overflowing.

"Thanks to the local businesses that are sponsoring the event, we've been able to select the finest prizes to distribute this year. I hope you're all prepared for what will surely be a terribly exciting tournament!"

Headmistress Ebner's face was jubilant as she spoke, and Duck found it hard to not smile along with her.

"Once you've signed up, we will give you one more night to prepare and train. The first battles will begin tomorrow, starting with the lower grades levels. Now, go forth and sign up!" she urged, gesturing for them to turn and walk to the sign-up tables behind them.

Sign-ups went fairly quickly, as most of the students already had an idea of what they wanted from the tournament. Duck decided on impulse to try single battle, since it would mean only one opponent instead of two. Single battles allowed only one pokémon per trainer, too, and since she couldn't let people see Odette that would probably be the only way she could battle at all. Still, she glanced at the other rules before she signed her name.

The double battle category looked like fun—it allowed for either two trainers as a team with one pokémon each, or one single trainer with two pokémon. Pique and Lilie were planning on the former approach (they had told her while they made her promise to cheer for them, to which she agreed). She wondered what category Mytho would pick, if he did any at all. He probably didn't need the extra credit.

She caught sight of a dark head of curls in her peripheral, and she turned to find Rue leaving the sign-up station. Duck hurried to get her attention before she walked away, dropping her pen haphazardly on the table.

"Hey, Rue!"

Rue turned and took a second, trying to recall her name. "Yes, Duck?" She didn't frown, so Rue figured she'd guessed correctly.

"Thank you for picking me as your partner yesterday. I really needed the battling practice."

She had that right, although Rue was far too polite to agree with her.

"You're welcome."

"So you signed up too, huh? What category did you pick?"

Rue blinked in mild surprise for the second time that day. Why was this girl chatting so easily with her? It had just been a dance, not an invitation to friendship. Oh well. She couldn't really bring herself to be rude to someone smiling so brightly.

"I'm a coordinator," she said. "I'm doing the contest portion."

"Oh, that's so cool," Duck breathed in awe. "I'm doing the single battle myself. Is it all right if I watch your performance?"

Rue nodded. "It's fine. I don't mind an audience."

"Cool!" Duck grinned. "Well, I'll see you later then!"

She waved a little goodbye and turned to go back to the dorms, leaving Rue to wonder what exactly she had agreed to.

* * *

It wasn't until Mytho was almost to the dormitory buildings that evening that he saw Rue. In fact, given how dark it had gotten and how deep in thought he was about the shard in his pocket, it was a miracle he saw her at all.

But she saw him.

"Mytho," she said from beside him. Her voice was measured, carefully haughty. Funny how many emotions she could fit into only his name.

"Rue," he said, startled, and turned to look her in the face. "I didn't think you'd want to talk to me."

She returned his gaze, her arms folded in a way that said he was on thin ice. "It depends on what you want to talk about."

Mytho sighed. He deserved a little ice after the previous day. Rue would let up after a little while anyway, and then things would go back to normal.

"You know I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry," he said. And he meant it, and she knew it. "I just thought I was helping a classmate with her grades. I didn't know she'd spread rumors that we'd broken up. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you." Her voice retained a bit of its haughtiness, but the hesitation in her eyes betrayed her sincerity. (Was it possible that she'd believed those rumors? He didn't think so, but Rue wasn't one to say much about her feelings.)

He sighed again, this time in relief.

It was good to know that at least this part of his life was reliable.

* * *

Duck was surprised when Adelaide stopped her and Fritz at the entrance to the girls' dorms.

"Yes?" she said nervously, clutching her hands together.

"Duck, can you step into my office, please?" The look on her face made Duck gulp in apprehension (had she done something wrong?), but she followed nonetheless.

Adelaide's "office" was actually the supply closet behind her desk. The three of them just barely fit (it was a large closet, thankfully). Duck instinctively suppressed her urge to ask why Adelaide didn't have an actual office.

Adelaide looked at her grimly, her usual bubbly smile gone. "Well, Duck, I believe I told you what my job is around here, right?"

"Uh, yes?" Duck answered. "You're the matron."

"Yes. I am," she said firmly. "And my job is to make sure you girls are where you're supposed to be at all times. _All_ of you."

Duck gulped again, getting an idea of what this was about.

Adelaide held up a clipboard. "Duck, you weren't in your dorm last night. Your student ID wasn't even swiped at the front desk—last night _or_ this morning."

Oh, this wasn't good.

"Where were you last night, Duck?" Adelaide asked quietly, folding her arms.

Duck's mind raced to think of an appropriate answer. "W-well, I didn't mean to not come back to the dorms," she stammered, holding her hands up defensively. "I just went to go check up on Fritz in the infirmary, and then we went to go meet my friend outside of town—I needed Ms. Edel's help on, uh, a school project."

Adelaide's brows rose. "You know Professor Edel?" she asked dubiously.

Duck nodded.

"By the time we finished it was really late, so we ended up sleeping over. I came right back to school in the morning, though!" she added.

Fritz nodded as well, trying to back her up.

Adelaide sighed.

"Fine. But this is your warning, Duck. If I find you lied to me, or if I find you've left your dorms at night again, there will be consequences."

Duck nodded again. "Of course. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Adelaide opened the closet door, and finally Duck was able to escape to her room.

She took a little time before bed to inspect her new pokédex. As Edel had said, the regional section pokédex was almost completely filled out, with only a few entries left empty (and the majority of those empty slots were those of legendary and mythical pokémon, which Duck was highly unlikely to encounter). Duck spent her free time that afternoon scrolling through the entries, textbook open to a type chart right beside her, paying close attention to those with type advantages against psyducks. Thankfully, water types only defensive dangers were grass and electric types, so as long as they avoided those moves he should at least come out okay.

She wasn't sure if her studying was going to help them actually _win_ any matches, but she could at least do her best to keep him from fainting again. When she voiced this to Fritz, though, he became annoyed.

"I can do it," he said grouchily.

"That's not what I meant," she amended, "I know _you_ can. I just don't know if I can. I'm a pokémon. I don't know if I should be doing this whole trainer thing."

Fritz sighed, and Duck dutifully returned to her studying. She just hoped she did Fritz justice as a trainer tomorrow. She certainly could use the extra credit.

When Rue returned to her room that evening, she found a folded card placed neatly atop her pillow, waiting for her.

The emblem on the front was unmistakable—a stylized honchkrow holding a bloody dagger in its beak. She opened it with trembling hands and scanned it quickly.

The note had only one sentence, written in staunch black ink:

 _11:30 PM, in the back gardens. Don't be late._


End file.
